Existing Advertisement Analysis

In order to give me the inspiration I need to create my own newspaper adverts I have chosen to analyse some existing adverts to give me some ideas as to how they are designed and what the layouts consist of. 

I have focused on colours, use of text, chosen images/photographs, style of font, and general impression given off from the advert itself. 

I have analysed 3 different adverts of each genre of the adverts I will be creating:

Adverts for Photographers

Here is one example of an advert used by a professional photography company, "Dirk van der Werff Professional Wedding Photography". It has used a dark, black background which gives the advert a dramatic effect and could suggest to their target audience that they aim to take impressive, breathtaking photographs. On this advert in particular, the company has chosen to show several different examples of their photography, 14 in total, in order to entice people and illustrate a range of the styles they are capable of. On my own advert for a local photographer, I am going to have one single photograph as my background in contrast to this layout. I will layer my text over this image like I have shown in my blogpost on my own photographs. The font used at the top of this page is in a sort of handwriting style, written in white lettering. The colour white could have been used to connote purity, which is often related with the idea of a perfect wedding and the bride's clean white wedding dress, which for wedding photography is obviously very relevant. 

Here is another example of an advertisement for a photography company. This advert has also used a dark background and again this could be used to symbolise dramatic, interesting forms of photography that the company aims to produce. However, in contrast to the advert I analysed first, this design does not include any photograph taken by the company. This is an interesting choice of design for an advert for a photography company and could be interpreted as an informed decision to keep an air of mystery about the type of photos the customer could expect. The design and layout of this ad is very simplistic, using only 3 colours of dark grey (almost black), white and yellow. The simple outline of a cliff edge could have been made yellow to suggest bright and positive photography that the company produces. This could entice people to research and find what they may expect from a company like this. In my own design for my photography advert, I have completely gone against this sort of ad as I believe it is more effective to show a good example of the sort of images you produce in order to attract people to that particular company. I also think my use of a bright image as the background will look attractive on my newspaper page and catch the reader's eye effectively. 

This is an example of a photographer's advert which differs from the two above that I have analysed, as it does not use dark colours as the background. This ad appears more bright and family orientated than the two ads pictured above as there are light colours used of beige and light, grey-ish shade of blue. These colours could be seen as quite plain day-to-day colours which could illustrate an idea of normal family life and pictures to reflect this designed to  appeal to families. Two images are used on this advert in particular, which is most similar to mine out of the three compared to one using no images at all to one using a total of 14. By using two images it can attract the reader's eye and showcase the photographer's skills without the images being lost amongst a wide range of images that the audience may not pay as much attention to individually.

Adverts for Small Businesses

(My own ad will be for a local PR company, but I have focused on small businesses in my research that use writing in their ads)

This is an advert for a small accounting company called Inglis. I have used this as an example in my research because the advert uses mainly text which is something I'll be looking to replicate in my own work. However, I don't think this advert is as effective as it could be, because there is not a clear enough colour scheme, which I believe is crucial if there is not going to be an image to attract the reader's attention. When designing my own advert for a small PR agency, I will use the same sort of amount of text however I will have my text centered, and more symmetrical.

I prefer the style of this advert compared with the one pictured above because there is a more clear colour scheme of purple. Purple is a good choice of colour for an advert such as this, as it it not gender exclusive, so the tutoring could apply to anyone. It is also a colour connoted with passion and wealth which could give the impression to people that maths tutition could lead them to success. The image matches the theme of the advert well, as it's a man in a suit which is a proffessional, businesslike image that suits the theme of education. I may take elements of this design in my own advert for a local PR company, for example the telephone, message and facebook icons towards the bottom left of the ad. Another aspect I think is effective in an ad such as this is the name of the person and service of the company is put in large lettering; in fact the largest lettering on the page, which helps make it clear what the advert is advertising.

Here is an advert for an insurance company named belmont international, which uses a clear colour scheme of dark pink and green. This advert has rougly the same amount of text as the other two adverts, but I don't think this one is an effective as the others. This is because I don't believe the information is laid out clearly enough to allow the reader to know exactly where to look. I think having the information in clear lines to seperate it out makes it easier and clearer. There are also no images again on this advert, which may well be a feature I use on my own advert because this seems to be somewhat conventional for adverts for small businesses such as these.

Adverts for Boat Trips 

Here is an advert for a company who specialises in boat trips called Sea Searcher. I like the layout of this advert and the fact that they have created it in a long horizontal box as a photograph of the boat is used for the background. However, I think they could have used a much more high quality image for the background of this advert. The text is also not made to stand out as much as it perhaps should be. By making the text white in a plain, sans serif type font it makes it too plain, especially as the sea behind the image appears light in colour due to the reflection of the pale white sky.

This is advertising Beans Boat Trips, and has used a more effective image for the backgroud I think, compared with the ad pictured above. Bright orange,bold lettering is used for the masthead to capture the reader's eye and make it clear what is being advertised. The phone number is also in this colour, making it easy for the reader to know how to get in contact. This ad also uses three other photographs as well as the one used for the background. These allow people to see other aspects of the boat trip, and can further entice them to come enjoy the experience and make the offer seem more appealing. For an advert such as this I think just the correct amount of text has been used to let the reader know the information they require, without giving away too much.

Fred Olsen cruises is a worldwide firm, as it clearly states on the advert itself but I chose to analyse it despite this, as I think the main image used is very effective to attract an audience. The more dramatic effect differs to both the other adverts I have previously analysed as it does not picture the boat in question, but the view to be seen or perhaps the experience to be had on such a boat trip. However I do not believe the colour of the blue band for text at the top of the advert is neccessarily in keeping with the image, as the colours do not abide by the same colour scheme. However blue is a colour that connotes bright blue skies, sunshine and the ocean, so I can be understood why such a colour would be used. Three pictures are placed along the bottom of the advert, all picturing the cruise ship itself which advertises the scale of the impressive boat and it looking it's best to further excite people by the prospect of a grand scale cruise ship.

Adverts for Car Specialists

This car advert for a company called Kars Automotive Specialists uses only black and white for it's main colours in the colour scheme. This is not a feature I wish to replecate in my own advert creation as I don't think it will effectively attract people's attention on a newspaper page which will already have a lot of black and white on it. I do however think this advert is effective in the amount of text used in the form of bullet points on the right hand side of the ad. By clearly listing what the company offers, the reader can immediately recognise whether they require the services of the company, saving time for the company and potential customers.

Here is an another car specialist advert named Crofton Auto Service. This advert also lacks colour, which is an element I won't choose to feature in my own work. On this ad, the black and white seems to go with a old-fashioned theme they have chosen to create this ad in the style of. In between the words "Auto" and "Service" the company's logo is situated, with a cartoon man fixing a car. It is effective in letting people know what the advert is advertising but in my opinion is too detailed for a car specialist logo. On my own ad, I will have an actual photograph of a car, with a light coloured background and text layered over it.

Out of the three car specialist adverts, I think this one would be most effective in a newspaper because it has some colour on it, which could make it stand out amongst the text on the page. By using the colour red, it connotes ideas of power and speed which is relates well to cars and repairs in order to keep them that way. This advert is the most similar to the design I had in mind for my own advert creation, as there is a small photograph of a car which I plan to have on my own advert. It also has a similar amount of text to the conventional type of car specialist ad, which I will be abiding by.

Adverts for Hair & Beauty Salons

This is an advert for a hair and beauty salon called "KCUK Hair & Beauty Day Spa", which uses bright, feminine colours in order to connote an idea of beauty and the types of services the company (spa in this case) provides. There is a lot of text on this particular advert, which I don't believe is appropriate for a newspaper ad, as it needs to be short and to the point so the reader quickly has a chance to gather all the information necessary. The photograph is very small on this advert, and not very clear. In my own work, I am planning on featuring a photograph of a girl with her hair and make up done, with the text either layered over the top of this image most likely created on Photoshop, or positioned next to the female image. 

This advert for "16th Ave Hair Salon" uses royal blue for the main colour of their colour scheme, which could be seen as unconventional because pink is seen as a more traditionally feminine colour. Therefore this advert goes against the expected type of hair and beauty salon advertisement  which could connote individuality and cutting edge style. The contact information and company title are in larger letters which I think is a helpful feature to make it simple and easy to contact them. Bullet points are another feature I may well take into my own advert designs because they are a short way to get as much information across as easily as possible. 

This advertisement is the most similar to the design I had planned for my own hair and beauty advert. By having the text and image clearly set apart, the reader can find out what they need to know and does not detract the attention from the high quality image of the result of the hair and beauty salon's work. The colour scheme is violet and white, with grey faded background behind the female image. Violet is a dramatic shade, which connotes pleasure and indulgence, two key elements of many of the services offered in a hair and beauty salon. This is definitely the most effective hair and beauty salon advert in my opinion that I have analysed, due to the layout, choice of image and colour scheme. I will aim to base many aspects of my own advert on this design. However I may include bullet points to space out my information, and have the contact information and company name in larger letters to make them stand out properly.