Visual Communications Report

VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

PART ONE:

Supreme’s use of colour and typography

Brand Imagery is created in many ways, Colour is suggested as the most important as it conveys a brands mood (Best, 2017) an explanation for effect of colour on moods and emotions is the Psychology of colour it shows the positive and negative connotations that are attached to colours for example red hold negative connotations of Anger and danger where its positive connotations are power and strength.

A brands logo in which depicts these connotation’s if the well-known designer brand Supreme, there have a very wellknown logo of red and white the connotations of the colours used in their logo is reflected by their reputation in the fashion industry holding a strong place as one of the most popular street wear high end designers. Using text in a burst of colour can make it more and the most prominent in (Saltz, 2009) hierarchy of elements depending on factors this is reflected on Supremes website where they logo is places centred on the landing page on a black background giving the effect of contrast, Display Type is more likely to attracts the reader’s attention quicker

PART TWO:

Stella McCartney’s use of visual channels to convey brand values.

The eponymous luxury fashion house Stella McCartney is renowned for their continuing growth in sustainability as this is one of their main incentives when producing their products, as a brand its narratives are noticeable portrayed through its visual channels as well as utilising “emotional power of advertising” This is an effective way of advertisement as humans tend to retain information better in the form of a story (Schank, 1999) Story telling within advertisement stimulates consumers emotion and they relate with their own life experiences. (I.e., Escalas, 2006),’ (Kang et al, 2018, p47). Stella McCartney effectively does this, Stella McCartney have a wide spread of visual channels, from its in-store experiences, its website, campaigns right up to its runways shows. From previous campaigns is evident that the brands values and priorities are visible when watching their campaigns an example of this is its winter 2017 campaign film where depicted is models walking through different terrains of the environment using contrasts of long grass fields full of wild life to landfill this can be interpreted that there representing the life cycle of clothes along with reinforcing the thoughts of shopping consciously with sustainability in mind and as the models are dressed in Stella McCartney it promotes how available sustainable clothes are when shopping with Stella McCartney.

@stellamccartney

PART THREE:

Key components of brand identity.

Every brand has what Aaker (1997) describes as a brand personality. The framework describes five types of personalities including sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness as well as well as product categories which include symbolic, utilitarian, and symbolic and utilitarian. A brand in which who can be seen as down-to-earth, honest, and wholesome is the well-known brand Patagonia. It has a trustworthy atmosphere/feel to its brand due to its reputation of having fool proof walking and outdoors gear. Its logo is an illustrated mountain range with a sunset background this is true to its brand, its logo is Abstract and symbolic marks, the use of a mountain rage creates a clear thought process for consumers to what that brand is about and the products available as it sparks thoughts of nature as well as the logo being abstract and symbolic is can be described as holding a badge marks due to the name of the brand being within the logo (Slade-Brooking, 2016).the font used is San serif due the San serif font usually being more flowing and smoother this visually suites Patagonia’s brand identity of being a modern, stylish, fresh outdoor wear brand. Patagonia’s characteristics can be seen to fit multiple of Aaker’s (1997) brand personalities as they have sections of the brand which attract different consumers.

PART FOUR:

Optimising the landing page.

There are multiple online platforms that can be utilised for plenty of different things. Websites can be used both for informational and e-commerce along with social media which can be both used for personal use as well as a marketing strategy for advertisement. A brands online content should reflect the brands narrative and personality to ensure consistency. The role of the internet becoming a retail channel created a different avenue for the fashion industry becoming a place in which purchasing was available to a wider crowd of people along with it being a more cost-effective way of shopping. The landing page of a website if the first view a consumer will see when they visit a brands website to ensure having a good bounce rate and retaining the traffic which has been attracted, the use of theory’s which optimize the landing like the F-Shape reading pattern (Nielsen, 2006) this study shows how a user reads a web page in an f shape so placing the most important information in these areas create a higher chance for a consumer to interact with the landing page for example placing click through in the bottom left corner would result in less interaction as the eyes are less likely to focus on this area of the screen meaning inefficient conversion takes place to ensure the retention of the consumer.

PART FIVE:

The Key touchpoints for visula communications

Visual communications are a key way for a brand to project its brand values this can be done via many different channels of communications. An example brand which uses visual communications to express its brand values is Ecoalf, its sustainable efforts are visually displayed throughout the brands website and continued through its products and packaging. There are three avenues and touchpoint which impact the consumers experience and interaction with the brand (D’Arienzo, 2016, NP) Firstly Pre-Purchase Experience this is where the brands digital communication channels are most crucial for attracting traffic to hopefully follow through to being a consumer. The website is a main part to play as it’s a method of online payment as well as being informational to the consumer two other parts of the Pre- Purchase Experience are Advertisements and Collateral these areas play an important part of attracting potential consumers to the website this can be done via social media with the use of campaigns if successful this leads onto the consumers purchase experience, making sure there are a range and variety of products offered and available to the consumer and having visually pleasing marketing displays to encourage the consumer to make a purchasing decision along with this the product should live up to and reflect the brand’s brand values.

PART SIX:

UK Vogue photoshoot: ‘New Beginnings’

Summer setting, with two female models with long hair fresh light make up and wearing long flowing bright dresses. there facial expressions are soft and smiley representing the happiness of sun and light

Darker autumnal setting, dying plants and storming sky. Two female figures with dark features (eyes, hair, and makeup) have a weak stance almost bowing to the atmosphere wearing dark distressed clothing

Winter scene, tree covered in snow and Icey background, models will be dressed in white thin seethrough garments to hold the idea of stripping back for a fresh beginning. The models will have body paint which makes their completion look pale.

The final scene will be bright springs day where new beginnings begin. The models will be in a blossoming field of flowers and lambs so depict new beginnings after the struggles of the year, they will be in soft neutral tones dressed with fresh young looking makeup

The Art direction of a campaign allows the brand to creatively advertise its product along with create a chance to express the brands views and values there are many things that build together to the desired campaign, firstly the casting of models a brand which wants to be viewed as inclusive and body positive will cast models which are plus size, secondly the location of the of the photo shoot play a huge part as if the photo shoot is product centric the shoot won’t take place in a busy detracting place.

PART SEVEN:

Briefing the client: principles in communicating the concept.

Within industry, miscommunication can be an expensive mistake and one that brands, and businesses don’t want to make. Therefore, the importance of communication between a client and business is key. As advertisements are the main visual communication between a brand and its consumers this mean the campaign posted must reflect the brand’s personality as well as its values. A creative brief is a useful way for brand/client to communicate their vision and ensuring everyone is on the same page creating a successful campaign. A creative brief can be a 1 – 2-page document which outlines the strategy for a creative project and making sure everybody is on the same page. The document can include but is not restricted to: a brand statement - this is where the brand will outline what the brand is about and its narrative; a project’s background section which gives a small insight to the campaign, the target audience and campaign goals and “driving Ideas” this will help the team have a good idea of the key messages the client wants. Other areas which can be included are the product details and the brand’s requirements. This sets an outline of what needs to be included creatively or not. Have a creative brief is key for any campaign as people’s perception of colours and designs can be very different as someone’s idea of soft colours could be pastels whereas for someone else that could mean neutrals.

PART EIGHT:

The elements of styling.

STYLE KIT

Clothing is something we utilise every single day multiple times a day it “is part of our identity” (Mair,2018, p56) as it’s something we use to express our personality and feelings, there multiple elements of styling, which include Lifestyle, Product and Stylistic these areas all cover the themes of different styling within in fashion.

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Different lifestyles call for different needs within fashion, depending on someone’s lifestyles will depend on how they style themselves personally, everyone’s experience of style is different due to social relationship and media messages of what is “right”. Product styling has the intention of selling a product and is majority promotional example of product styling is photographing a product in a flat lay or using a model to showcase the product. Stylistic/artistic styling is a more professional approach and isn’t usually promotional but rather a showcase of artistic skills through fashion this may be found via a magazine or runway fashion show.

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P L A I N W H I T E S H I R T

PART NINE:

The legacy of Oliviero Toscani.

Olivier Toscani the Italian born photographer made his mark for having a particularly controversial style during his time working for united colours of Benetton between 1982 – 2000. He utilised controversy to create publicity for the brand whether it was positive or not. For example, A campaign using a young male suffering with aids, surrounded by his family in a hospital bed, Toscani wasn’t afraid in discussing topics which were sensitive at the time as his opinion is that brands are “important as they have social impact” (Kiefer, 2016). This campaign was viewed as controversial due to the fact the man looked edited to resemble Jesus. Aids in 1990’s was stereotyped to be contracted through homosexual relationships and at the time society was majority homophobic, the topic of aids was rarely spoken about especially within religion even though the photo was completely consensual with the featuring family, it still caused outrage and a global campaign to boycott the family’s places of work (Duffy, 2017). Controversial advertising is not easily regulated as interpretation of visual content is different for everyone, grabbing the attention of consumers to misleading and causing offence are very different however brands use this to their benefit and create campaigns with a shock factor to gain publicity. The shock tactic begins to backfire for Oliviero Toscani in the end losing his role as art director at Benetton in 2002.

PART TEN:

Rebranding Bershka: differentiating the brand from the Inditex stable.

Branding creates a narrative and message for a brand with a sense of storytelling (Tungate, 2012) however rebranding of a company can take place such as Burberry which reinvented themselves for the designer market since its popularity with the “chav” culture (Moore and Birtwistle, 2004) Bershka is one of the fashion retailers which make up the family of brands run by Inditex. The seven brands run by Inditex all have very similar visual communications of wordmark logos, stylistic art direction and sleek websites, rebranding is a way to distinguish the brand from its parent company (Inditex, ND; Lopez and Fan, 2009). Bershka’s main difference is there logo redesign the original logo was a San serif font with a lower case formatting where there updated logo continues using San serif font but an upper case formatting, visually the new logo has a more powerful and modern look along with its logo the brands website has also had a rebrand, it’s taken on a more urban and youthful look compared to its sister brand of Zara which has a more millennial classier look differentiating the brands by having a different consumer groups along with the garments there selling

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aaker (1997) Brand personalities

Best, J. (2017)’Colour in Fashion’, Colour design: theories and application, page 306-7.

Cochrane (2017) ‘Benetton’s controversial art director Oliviero Toscani returns’ Available: https://www. theguardian.com/fashion/2017/nov/30/benettons-controversial-art-director-oliviero-toscani-returns Accessed: May 15th 2023

Carrol (2000) ‘Sock Tactics that finally backfired’ Available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/apr/30/ rorycarroll.theobserver

Accessed: 15th May 2023

Holsanova (2014) Chapter 14: In the eye of the beholder in: Machin (2014) Visual Communication

Inditex (2023) Available: https://www.inditex.com/itxcomweb/en/home Accessed: May 16th, 2023

D’Arienzo, W. (2016). Brand Management Strategies: Luxury and Mass Markets (pp. 1–22). New York: Fairchild Books

Saltz (2009) Chapter: ‘The Word’ (p58-105) In: Saltz (2009) Typography Essentials

Tselentis (2012) Chapter: Typographic Principles (p207-233) In: Haley (2012) Typography, Referenced

R, Schank (1999) ‘Story-based Reminding’, Dynamic memory revisited, Vol 2, page 89-107

Kang, J., Hong, S. and Hubbard, G. T. (2020) ‘The role of storytelling in advertising: Consumer emotion, narrative engagement level, and word‐of‐mouth intention’, Journal of consumer behaviour, 19(1), pp. 47–56

Kiefer (2017) ‘Why Benetton’s provocative photographer Toscani thinks advertising is totally stupid’ Available: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/why-benettons-provocative-photographer-toscani-thinksadvertising-totally-stupid/1452172 Accessed: 15th May 2023

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Accessed: 2nd May 2023

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Tungate, M 2012, Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara, Kogan Page, Limited, London

Wix (2021) ‘9 types of logos and how to use them effectively’ Available: https://www.wix.com/blog/creative/2020/01/types-of-logos/ Accessed: May 16th, 2023