Ad Analysis - Assignment 1

Print Ad - Audi

This ad shows concrete structure through the use of regularly spaced vertical lines.  The contrast of the car, and the comparatively washed out background, allow the car to be the figure in the image.  The optical illusion of the garage walls and city outside play with the viewer's idea of which is the midground and which is the background, as well as the positive and negative space.  The position of the car draws the viewer's eye to the bottom of the ad, where the logo and branding are.  The small text and website address at the top-left of the image is positioned to balance out the weight of the car and fineprint, though its size adds much less emphasis.

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Print Ad - Cruiseshipcenters.com

This image uses direction to focus the viewer's eye from the top-left to the bottom-right of the page.  The curved black lines emphasize the movement through the image.  All of the lines in this ad, except for the text, follow the same diagonal movement.  The keyboard and pen, at the top-right and bottom-left of the composition, are there to balance the coffee cup and spilled coffee drops/islands.  These elements keep the viewer's eye from moving off the page and directs it towards the text.  The background of the ad consists of a white surface with soft shadows to add a light contrast and keep it from being too plain.  The foreground images all have a lot more contrast, with dark dropshadows next to the coffee mug, pen, and keyboard and bright white highlights on each of the spill drops.

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Billboard - The Last Airbender

This billboard uses the contrast of the orange and blue complementary colors to immediately grab the viewer's attention.  The image uses formal structure, with the visual elements evenly spaced at the left, right, and center.  It's symmetrically balanced, and the viewer's eye is drawn from the edges to the center, where the title is centered.  The positioning of the copy text at the bottom of the billboard creates a pyramid shape, pointing the viewer's eye up towards the title of the movie.

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Online Ad - Braun

The Braun online ad uses concrete structure to display the four razors evenly in a grid pattern.  The products are presented symmetrically.  The ad is grouped into different sections, consisting of the small logo at the top, the four color images of razors, the large text below them, and then the web address at the very bottom.  The text has the most contrast in the ad, as it is white on a black background, but the color and detail in the product images draws the eye.  The company logo and the website address are positioned opposite, on the top-right and bottom-left, to create a balance.

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Print Ad - Babolat

 

This ad is from the July/August 2011 issue of Tennis magazine.  The full-page ad has a concrete structure, with visible horizontal lines and the three players standing, evenly spaced.  The positioning of the tennis racquets and even one player's shirt add to the visual grid lines of the image.  Only the white triangle at the bottom-right, the angled headline at the top, and the slight difference in player heights create diagonal lines in the image.  There is a horizontal symmetry, creating a mirroring effect across the vertical axis, because of the grid lines and position of the players.  Color helps to draw the viewer's eye to the products worn by the players.  Roddick's shoes create a red-green contrast and draw the viewer's eye.  Nadal's shirt does the same and draws the viewer's eye to the racquet he's holding in front of it.  The three racquets introduce blues, blacks, and yellows that differ from the rest of the ad's color scheme of subtle whites, greens, and greys.