Magazine Ad: Listerine
This ad is informal in structure and has an asymmetrical composition. The balance of the piece is weighted to the lower left of the frame, anchored by the bottle that appears via its reflection to be sitting on a table or surface. Though there is little color contrast between the magentas of the bottle, the liquid, and the background, there is contrast in texture. There is also high contrast between the main (magenta) part of the ad and the very bottom where the consumer is offered a money back guarantee in black letters on a white background. The liquid shooting out of the bottle creates a lot of visual movement within the frame, moving the viewer's eye from the mouth of the bottle clockwise in a circle around the central words of the ad. The words in the ad vary in size and placement and are grouped together primarily along the right side of the frame. These groups help distinguish the text of the ad from the wording on the product bottle.
Billboard Ad: The North Face Store
This billboard ad is more formal in structure. The words are evenly spaced along a concrete structure: a grid formed by the seams of the coat. The balance of the composition is weighted slightly to the right making this an asymmetrical design. There is a high contrast between the white text and the darker figure of the red and black coat as well as the black background. This ad shows positive and negative elements through the use of white text on a black (or dark) background in the majority of the frame and black text on a white background in the bottom address block.
Billboard Ad: Red Window
This billboard ad for a new show called Red Window illustrates a high contrast design. The structure of the ad is informal with the balance of the composition weighted heavily to the right with the main figure of a close up of a woman's face. There is an extremely high contrast between the woman's light skin and the stark black background, and the eye is also drawn to the few spots of bold color within the frame. The color red is repeated in the show's title--both in use of color and wording-- and the woman's lips, making both of these parts of the image stand out. The woman's eyes, by contrast are icy blue which is repeated in the television station's logo. (This is most likely just a coincidence, since I would assume this poster is used in many markets for which the local abc affiliate does not have a blue logo.) Additionally, there is some visual movement in this image created by the diagonal lines in the veil across the woman's face. The eyes are drawn from the upper left side of her face, down to her eyes, and then to her lips.
Online Ad: Touch
This online ad for the television show Touch is similar in composition to the Red Window one, but instead of showing a high color contrast, the main figure (Keifer Sutherland) seems to be dissolving into the background or being covered by a fog in the foreground. Once again, this ad shows a close up of a person's face anchored to one side of the frame with wording giving the show's title, tagline, time, and channel on the opposing side. This ad is weighted to the left even more than the other was to the right because of the empty space to the right of the words. All of the darker colors in the frame appear in its upper half, with a concentration toward the upper left corner. There is a high contrast between the dark letters of the text in the show title and the white space in the background, but as mentioned before, Keifer's face and body seem to be fading into the background. There is also a map overlay (or is it underlay?) that appears across Keifer's face and body that is repeated in the text of the title of the show.
Online Ad: Ugg
This online add for Ugg shoes also takes advantage of a lot of white space, a sparse design, and a few pops of vivid color. There is vertical symmetry in this ad across the image of the legs in the middle of the frame, though overall, the image is asymmetrical and the balance is weighted to the right with all wording appearing on the right side of the frame. The figure in the foreground of the picture is a woman dressed in white, whose body is shown starting from just below the shoulder, sitting in a white chair with blue shoes on. This image is located in the very center of the frame and is somewhat small in relation to the white space the fills most of the frame. The blue shoes, the woman's tan legs, and the company's gray logo provide the only contrasting colors in the image against the rest of the white tones. The blue in the shoes is repeated in the word "cool" at the right of the frame and the tan of her legs is repeated in the word "classic" on the right of the frame. This design is very minimal as the two words are the only text shown in the frame other than the company's logo. The viewer's eye moves from the woman's knees down to the shoes and also to the words on the right that repeat these colors. The legs also resemble a mirrored image in the way they are positioned with feet pointing outward from the central knee point at corresponding angles.
I am struck by the graphic nature of most of these advertisements and the visual impact of using a small color palette. I also noted when I started looking closely at these ads, I started seeing them everywhere. The Ugg and Touch ads were ones I originally saw online, but then I also saw them in magazines and on bus and subway billboards. Perhaps their simple, striking visuals made them translate easier to multiple types of media without modification.
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