Advertising Week 12

20.11.2016 (Week 12)

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Advertising Principles and Practice

Final Submission and Links

Instructions:

Exercises Brief

Project 1 Brief

Project 2 Brief

Project 3 Brief

Submissions:

Project 1 Submission

Link to Google Slides

Project 2 Submission

Link to Google Slides

Project 3 Submission
Newspaper Advertisement

Figure 1: Newspaper Advertisement (130 x 180mm)

Figure 2: Newspaper Advertisement Simulation

Billboard Advertisement

Figure 3: Billboard Advertisement (48 x 14ft) (14.63 x 4.27m)

Figure 4: Billboard Advertisement Simulation

Web Banner Adverisement

Figure 5: Web Banner Advertisement (160 x 600px)

Figure 6: Web Banner Advertisement Simulation

Social Media Advertisement

Figure 7: Social Media Advertisement (700 x 700px)

Figure 8: Social Media Advertisement Simulation

Ambient Advertisement

Figure 9: Ambient Advertisement Simulation

Figure 10: Ambient Advertisement Textholder (A3 297 x 420mm)

Reflection:

Experience
I've found this module to be very helpful in developing a critical thought process as well as organising my thoughts in the creative process. It was real hard work for me coming up with ten weekly ideas while maintaining the quality of my ideas, as I was trying very hard to remain original (as we all do). I have had some hard times with this module, mainly because of the sheer amount of mental capacity this takes up in contrast to other modules. This module has definitely forced me to be disciplined and systematic in every step of the way, which is a good thing, but care must be taken that the documentation process does not hinder the actual creative process in terms of time consumption. It was very important to establish a format from the beginning so that our sanity can remain relatively intact. 

A great sense of fatigue falls upon my shoulders just by thinking of the words "Playsafe" "Extremely" and most of all, "Thin" as it was all I had on my mind for most of the time spent with this module, and even during my free time. Ideas generation for such a long term project in such a limited scope is truly something really tough and I have a mad respect for the poor advertising people who have to work on long-term projects like these. 

Observation
I've noticed the class warming up to each other, which is very good because as such a small class it's important to stick together. For me, I've begun to appreciate the value of constructive criticism more and to be a bit more objective in my decision-making process. 

Through the weeks, one thing is evident: I really despise Blogger's editing platform as it has never failed to mess with my layouts and font sizes. 

This self-evaluation section is actually very useful and important to organise my thoughts and learnings throughout the week, but sometimes I would forget to write down my thoughts immediately, and therefore I would forget to add things into the section. 

Findings

I find myself being able to give constructive criticism more freely, but an effect of that is that I tend to shoot down ideas a bit too quickly. This is something I will have to work on, but I am glad that I am now conscious of this trait I possess. 

To sum it off, it has been a very good learning experience and I believe I have grown through this process of hunting down ideas for thin condoms and bringing them to life. We had some tough times indeed, but I think through them we managed to identify some of our weaknesses as well as sharpened some of our skills.

Cheers!

Image sources:

Figure 1 – 16 Personal Documentation

Advertising Week 11

15.11.2016 (Week 11)

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Advertising Principles and Practice

Project 3 Progress

Project 3:

As this is the week before the final project submission, it is only rightful that a lot of progress has to be made. 

I began finalising down the patterns that would work to serve my purpose. I've also done it all in colour in order to see how the contrast would work. There are the following:

Figure 1: Finalised Pattern 1 "Stroke Width"

Figure 2: Finalised Pattern 2 "Dots"

Figure 3: Finalised Pattern 3 "Zig-zag"

Figure 4: Finalised Pattern 4 "Circles"

Figure 5: Finalised Pattern 5 "Noodles"

I then explored further into how to place the typography within the boundaries of the ad space. 

Figure 6: Typographic Arrangements Experimentation

Figure 7: Typographic Arrangements Experimentation

Figure 8: Typographic Arrangements Experimentation

Figure 9: Typographic Arrangements Experimentation

I've decided to go with the white box style in Figure 7 as it allows for an unobstructed view of the key art while maintaining a sense of unity between graphic and text box.

That being said, I attempted to place these into the confines of the advertising medium dimensions. 

Upon consultation of the lecturer, they are the following:
1. Newspaper Quarter-page Advertisement: 130 x 180mm
2. Billboard Advertisement: 48 x 14ft
3. Web Banner Advertisement (Wide Skyscraper): 160 x 600px
4. Magazine Full Page Advertisement (Men's Health): 210 x 175mm
5. Ambient Advertisement: A1 594 x 841mm

These were the media that was suggested by my lecturer. However, upon closer reevaluation, I realise that it is very important to put in something onto social media networks, as I have outlines in my Project 2 slides. Therefore, I must decide to remove one of the media stated above and replace it with the social media advertisement.

I have chosen to remove the magazine advertisement because of the small readership base. Therefore, I removed the magazine ad and included the Social Media Advertisement, which dimensions are as follows:

Social Media Advertisement (Facebook): 700 x 700px

I will now attempt to explain in detail my processes for each medium's advertisement:

Newspaper Quarter-Page Advertisement
For this ad, I wanted to use the dots because it was similar to dot matrices in halftone printing. I decided for a quarter page ad despite wanting to blow it up to a full-page ad because I did not want to be too loud about an advertisement about condoms in a Malaysian newspaper. I took the dimensions from The Star newspaper and simulated my advertisement in its size.

Figure 10: Newspaper Ad Draft

Billboard Advertisement
I was very concerned about the legibility and also whether or not people can see the advertisement from that distance. After some thought as looking at my printouts from afar, I decided on the following pattern to be used.

Figure 11: Billboard Ad Draft

Web Banner Advertisement
This was an interesting suggestion by my lecturer. He suggested to actually make the web banner into a .gif (an idea I thought of doing before, but never thought to execute it because I had never done one before). But through the saving grace of Google, I can now make glorious .gifs.

Figure 12: Web Banner Ad "Look it moves!"

Ambient Advertisement
I thought of either putting these ambient ads in toilets or entrances to nightclubs or bars. Later on I decided to keep it out of the toilet as toilets have the impression of being a dirty place.. generally not a very nice place to be thinking of something so intimate.

The ambient advertisement took a few experiments before getting it right. 

Figure 13: Toilet Ambient Test

Figure 14: Toilet Ambient Test

Figure 15: Brick Ambient Test

Figure 16: Brick Ambient Test

My final advertisements will be posted up in Week 12's post, along with their simulations.

Feedback:

Specific Feedback

The lecturer gave lots of feedback about how appropriate it would be to use particular patterns in particular situations and gave his opinion on which one would be better to use or not. His responses were quite encouraging regarding my ads. 

Reflection:

Experience

This week was really tiring for me as I had to work on other projects as well. With little sleep it was hard to maintain focus, but I pushed on because this is the final lap. Not too healthy a lifestyle, but an art student's got to do what an art student's got to do.

Observation

I observe myself extremely productive this week despite the tiredness. I also find that using earphones helps me maintain stronger focus. Is it because it acts like a tether to the machine? Or does it block out the outside world better? Whatever it is, it's working.

Findings

I find that the advertisements are beginning to look good and I have reached that point in my creative process where I can slowly see the final forms emerging. It is an exciting part, but I should also be careful and not get ahead of myself because this step is very important to prevent any mistakes. I can't wait to finish this up.

Image sources:
Figure 1 – 16 Personal Documentation

Advertising Week 10

08.11.2016 (Week 10)

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Advertising Principles and Practice

Project 3 Progress

Project 3:

I have come up with more drafts for the invisible pattern designs, as well as explored the use of some appropriate typefaces for the advertisement. Do note that the following images are slightly edited after the consultation session with my lecturer. The feedback he gave is included in the feedback section. Changes I have made include: reducing point size of the stroke, reducing the inter-line spacing and changed the shape of the condom to reflect a more universal icon of a condom.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

I also explored the typefaces to be utilised in the advertisement. Top is PT Sans Condensed, and the bottom is Source Sans Pro. I'm gravitating towards Source Sans Pro.

I did a lot of printouts this week to see how it would look like actual size. I realise it is very different seeing it in print and on the computer screen, and I need to start printing more tests in order to have an accurate view on the designs.

Feedback:

Specific Feedback

My lecturer said that some of the lines are too thick and the spacings are too wide. He encouraged me to look at how to incorporate the tagline and USP in a more elegant manner rather than simply placing it at the bottom , which apparently ruins the flow. He also suggested using a grid pattern. He also said my portfolio is well-organised.

Reflection:

Experience

I'm glad I put in more work during the break to actually come up with more patterns and possibilities. 

Observation

I still observe myself putting this to the side. I believe this is because the current step in the process is very tedious and visually boring. However, I understand that it crucial to get it right from the foundation up so that I won't slow myself down in the coming steps. 

Findings

I find that the deadlines truly motivate me to do good work. It is not something I want to rely on, but being accountable to deliver something by a certain time gives me the motivation to churn out proper honest work. 

Advertising Week 9

25.10.2016 (Week 9)

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Advertising Principles and Practice

Project 3 Progress

Instructions:
Final Project: Advertising Campaign (part 2): Art Direction
Final Project & Portfolio 40%

The Brief
Advertising Campaign (Part 2): Art Direction

Duration of Assignment
5 Weeks (Briefing on Week 8)

DEADLINE
Week 13 (21 Nov 2016)

Description
The student now has the task of developing an Advertising Campaign – a total of 5 ads across different/same media – for the Playsafe Condom Brand, and its Air Ultra Thin product. Utilising the insights researched (Project 2), the ideas developed (Project 1), and the determined media strategy (Project 3), execute a well art directed, crafted, creative advertising campaign that maintains the mood, tone and most importantly conveys the ad message (USP/SMP) consistently throughout the different/same media. Create an advertising campaign that is on message, on target and makes a lasting impact visually and emotionally.

In part 2 of the advertising campaign, the focus is on the students ability to translate the creative idea into concepts that are well art directed and crafted ad. campaign, taking into consideration the target audience, media and the socio-cultural factors.

The brand: Playsafe Condoms

The product: Air Ultra Thin (See figure 1.)
SMP/USP: Extremely thin condom for extra sensitivity

Target Audience: Gen Y.

Requirements
The student must document their progress in their eportfolio and the A4 hardcopy portfolio. The final results must be printed out for the A4 hardcopy portfolio, and the Adobe PDF and JPEGs of the final artworks must be uploaded to your eportfolio. Ensure all aspects of your journey in this process is documented – failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, etc.

Submission
All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, etc.) documented chronologically in the A4 Clear Sheet folder. The works must be labelled and dated.
All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, screen grabs, websites, images, etc.) documented chronologically in the eportfolio for every week, for the duration of the project.
A3 print outs of the individual ads from the campaign and simulated print outs of what it would look like in its actual setting.

Objectives
To develop students ability to ideate effectively.
To develop students ability to synthesise knowledge.
To develop students ability to gain and utilise insight for effective advertising
To develop students ability to create and execute an effective ad. message.
To develop students ability to determine a media mix based on analysis.

Project 3:

Based on my idea sketches in the past weeks, I tried to digitise them roughly to see how they would actually look like with right angled straight lines.

Figure 1

Here I tried to imagine it with some colours. The greens are taken from the packaging of the Playsafe condom.

Figure 2

 I also tried out using different patterns and effects, such as Bloat or Twirl, etc. 

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

I also tried using overlapping concentric circles to subtly highlight the border between the condom and the background.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

For this one I tried a different effect in Photoshop. I just watched Doctor Strange, you see.

Figure 10

Here is a rough ambient mock up that I could utilise in my campaign.

Figure 11

I want to find that balance between being too blatantly obvious and too hard to see, so I will try and narrow down some suitable ones.

Feedback:

Specific Feedback

The lecturer said that it's looking promising and I should keep at it. He mentioned how the ad in Figure 10 could be used for a secondary wave of advertisements. He said the ambient in Figure 11 is suitable and doable. 

Reflection:

Experience

It felt rather awkward in class at first as there was no lecture as we have finished our lecturing sessions. I felt pretty bad because I hadn't come up with sufficient progress on the condom advertisements. However, I do appreciate whatever feedback my lecturer is able to provide me.

Observation

I observe myself putting this at a lower priority than my other projects, as this project has the impression of being able to be completed very quickly. However, I recognize that putting no work into the projects would only delay the project. Working with all these patterns is extremely tiring on the eyes.

Findings

I find that I need to pick up my pace and focus on this project more. I should take breaks from staring at the screen for so long.

Picture Credits

• Figure 1 – 11 — Personal Documentation