Design Principles - Final Project: Visual Analysis

15/11/2021 - 29/11/2021 / Week 12 - Week 14

Lim Wei Xian / 0342559

Design Principles/ Bachelor of Mass Communication (HONS) (Advertising and Brand Management)

Final Project: Visual Analysis

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INSTRUCTIONS

This project is all about utilising your understanding of design principles by presenting a study and artwork influenced by ONE DESIGNED visual material that has the theme ‘Reduced Inequalities’ - video games/ billboards/ television commercial/ movie clip/ etc.

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PROGRESS

Observe and Assess

To capture the main idea of 'Reduced Inequalities', I've shortlisted 3 visual materials:

1. "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" By L'Oreal (2 Visual Materials)

Figure 1.1 L'Oreal's "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" Campaign, aiming to reduce inequality by spreading awareness of hiring female employees.

Main Message: End Gender Discrimination in employing.

Observation: 

The good use of contrasting colours were presented here, having red and gold to contrast with each other in the ad. Rule of third were being used as well, as it shows unity and balance in the advertisement. The rising of the lipsticks is also a form of continuation, leading the audience into the main message.

2. "PARASITE" the movie

Figure 1.2 PARASITE's Movie poster. The movie talks about the social economical and financial differences between the rich and the poor.

Main Message: Showcasing the social economical and financial differences between the rich and the poor.

Observation: 

Just like the L'Oreal ad, the "Rule of third" was presented here in the movie poster. The contrasting colours of the characters were there too, as the characters who are poor were wearing darker colours, while the richer characters were wearing white.

Investigate and Analyse

1. "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" By L'Oreal (2 Visual Materials)

Figure 2.1 L'Oreal's "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" Campaign, aiming to reduce inequality by spreading awareness of hiring female employees.

Observation: 

The strong contrast of words and visuals was presented here in this advertisement by L'Oreal. The bold phrase "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" is conveying a message to male employers around the world to end gender discrimination when hiring employees. The straight opposite of men's stereotype here was also presented, showing the growing amount of the lipstick as well as the nail polish. Even though L'Oreal's target audience would mainly be women, the combination of the cosmetics and the phrase "THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN" definitely stands out.

Using the lipsticks and nail polish as a bar graph is a creative way to show how women in work forces would benefit an organisation/ institution. The bold and strong background of a dark red was complemented with the gold body of the lipsticks, while the brighter red colours of the nail polish creates 'harmony' within the ad. The white texts in the title was there to create contrast as

Overall, it's a minimalist design that definitely stands out to the idea of 'Reduced Inequalities'.

2. "PARASITE" the movie

Figure 2.2 PARASITE's Movie poster. The movie talks about the social economical and financial differences between the rich and the poor.

Main Message: Showcasing the social economical and financial differences between the rich and the poor.

Observation: 

The movie poster here for Parasite might need to take some time to truly understand the main idea of the film. As presented in the poster, we can see two of the characters being censored by a 'black bar' on their eyes, while the other two is being censored in "white bars". There can be two interpretations here:

1. The characters with black bars are being neglected by society for being poor.

2. The characters with white bars are seen as more superior or 'pure' for being rich.

Parasite shows the financial differences of characters, and the inequality between them. The rich would always live a comfortable life, while the poor would often suffer from different situations. It's a movie where the strong contrast between the rich and poor would make the audience feel uncomfortable as well, trying to make them relate to what the poor are going through.

Sketch and Create

Visual Material to reference: L'Oreal's 'THIS IS AN AD FOR MEN." Ad Campaign

Figure 3.1 Sketch on paper

Big Idea: Women are often being discriminated and fall under the role of being a 'housewife', staying at home to cook and serve the family. I plan to create something that shows the world that women can do more than just cooking, by creating an advertisement that captures the attention of audiences.

The use of onion being cut in half: 

- Kitchen setting. Half of the onion is to represent the amount of Malaysian women being discriminated in workplaces. According to the Women's Aid Organisation (2020), more than 50% of Malaysian women suffer from gender discrimination in workplaces.

Reference: 

Women's Aid Organisation. (20220). More than 50% of Malaysian Women Experienced Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. Retrieved from: https://wao.org.my/more-than-50-of-malaysian-women-experienced-gender-discrimination-in-the-workplace/

MORE THAN THE KITCHEN title:

- Attention grabbing/ bold statement to get readers to know more about the ad.

- Show that women can do more outside of the kitchen.

Progress

As I'm doing an advertisement poster regarding reduced inequality, I figured to use 'Tefal' as my preferred brand. The reason is because my visuals and idea is based around the kitchen, therefore Tefal as a kitchen hardware brand would be suitable

Figure 4.1 Tefal, a kitchen hardware brand

I took a picture of someone cutting up an onion for my main visuals. The onion is cut into half to represent the amount of Malaysian women experiencing gender discrimination in workplace.

Figure 4.2 Photo of someone cutting up an onion 

Figure 4.3 Removing the background for the photo of the cut onion

Figure 4.4 Adjusting the colour/ lighting of the onion to be brighter

Figure 4.5 Smoothen out the details of the knife with various healing tools in Photoshop

I then transfer my work from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe Illustrator to work on my background, title, and copywriting.

Figure 4.6 Creating a gradient background specifically to highlight the main visuals

Figure 4.7 Adjusting the paragraph spacing of the title

Figure 4.8 Adjusting the gradient gain to the right ratio

Copywriting:

We believe in reduced inequalities. Women are often being discriminated and seen as weak, but everyone at Tefal believes in gender equality. Employers should not judge a person based on their gender, and together, we can make a change. Hire women, end discrimination.

Figure 4.9 Copywriting as well as the brand's logo

FINAL SUBMISSION

Short Rationale:

This is a print advertisement by Tefal promoting reduced inequalities. The onions being cut in half is there to represent the percentage of Malaysian Women being discriminated based on their gender in workplaces. "MORE THAN THE KITCHEN" is to make a bold statement to end the stereotype of women should only stay in the kitchen and cook. The research/ facts in yellow is there to show infographics and educate people more on the problem of gender inequality. As any print ad should have, it also includes a copywriting that conveys the vision of Tefal, a kitchen hardware brand.

Figure 5.1 Final Project: Visual Analysis FINAl SUBMISSION