Image analysis: "Come With a Story"

Proximity is obvious, because the advertisement is really only one image, but it's working. Sherlock and Snow White, intertwined, are about as close as they can get. This adds to the fantasy of a gloriously connected world of books; further, in a book exchange, people trade stories and connect with each other as well. Considering that, the morphing of two characters in each of these ads (another features Red Riding Hood and the White Whale) is brilliant.

Repetition in the colors; the red bow and red "Come with one story" header are close to being top and bottom thirds, and work especially well to bound the space. I'm also taking "consistency" literally and noticing the texture throughout. It's all suggestive of a book: tangible paper. The ad is very visually pleasing; I would probably hang it on my wall.

The contrast is marked. Blank-sheet-of-paper background and the shadow making the silhouettes come to life: these are three-dimensional characters, apparently. The juxtaposed image is strong, and it's been placed in the center of the space and allowed to tell a story.

As much as I love this ad, I'm not sure the alignment of the text is working. Williams suggests we "try to break away from a centered alignment," unless it's deliberate and adding something to the image. Like the law of thirds in photography, anything perfectly centered can be distracting, and because the bottom of the Snow White image is open, the eye is drawn down to the tab of text, expecting it to be connected in some visual way. Which it isn't. If you zoom in, the arrangement of the text is clever, resembling a title page and continuing the book theme; but I think it would be more legible and distract less from the central picture if it was expanded and removed from its bright-white box.