advertising design
process book jeffrey balch
assignment We were asked to find an advertisement in a magazine and evaluate its target audience. We were then to redesign the
ad for a different magazine with a different target audience.
evaluation Publication: Vanity Fair (Special Hollywood Edition) Gender: Female
Age: 25-54, Median 42.3
Average Household Income: $78,753
Occupation: 31% Professional/Managerial/Executive Geographic Segment: United States
Advertisement: Big Sexy Hair - Spray and Play Gender: Female Age: 20-40
Benefit Segment: Nice hair Frequency of Usage: Daily
Brand Competitors: Bed Head, Chi
original ad
changing the target New Publication: Seventeen Gender: Female
Age: 12-19, Median 16.4
Average Household Income: $68, 222 Occupation: ~50% Employed
Geographic Segment: United States
research Seventeen readers:
- love to shop for clothes and accessories
- see music as a big part of their lives
- like to create their own style
- see movies within the first two weeks of release
- want to go to college and have successful careers - are more likely to purchase brands that support causes they care about
- hate stereotypes
thumbnail sketches At this point, I did thirty thumbnail sketches to get some
ideas out for the new target audience. Out of these thirty, I chose the best three and created tight sketches of them.
tight sketches After creating our tight sketches, the class got into focus groups of four where we considered the brand, the magazine, and the target audience to decide which one we should continue with to produce our final ad. My focus group decided that the second sketch would be the best for my target market and brand. The comments made in the focus group are listed below for each sketch.
comments
- Nice layout - Might go a little overboard - Fits with the magazine, but not with the brand - Tagline makes it seem like its for gum instead of hairspray
- Everyone in the group liked this ad best - “Cute” - Good for “glamorous” feel of brand - Fits brand much better than the first option
- It works, but it’s very boring in comparison - Works well for brand, not sure about for audience - Using the word “sexy” may be too sexy for Seventeen.
image options I decided to find a stock image that would work for my ad.
These are the options I found. I ended up choosing the one on the top right.
early drafts
you’re never too young to be fabulous.
STYLES CHANGE. SEXY IS FOREVER. Available at sexyhair.com and professional salons.
speed critique For the speed critique, I met individually with five class-
mates to talk about my ad, specifically the design of the ad. I had two different versions to show them, with only a slight difference. Their comments are on the opposite page.
you’re never too young to be fabulous.
STYLES CHANGE. SEXY IS FOREVER. Available at sexyhair.com and professional salons.
you’re never too young to be fabulous.
STYLES CHANGE. SEXY IS FOREVER. Available at sexyhair.com and professional salons.
andrea - Nice Photoshop job - Looks like there is hair on her face - Overexposed face - Turn hairspray bottle to read “Big Sexy Hair” better? - Show more of the star - Looks like she is leaning instead of laying - Fix the white around the logo - Move logo up - Add more shadows to the hair to make it look more realistic - Prefers the ad with the black bar at the bottom
whitney - Loves the hair - Likes that the dress is red - Nice typography - Undecided on the bottom section, but is leaning more towards the black bar - Make the girl look younger? happier? - Nice placement, but play with the placement with the black line - Fix the bottom of the star
jason - Likes the color scheme - Likes the consistency - Works well for Seventeen - Black bar loses star shape - The period looks oddly placed, fix the star placement - Add kerning to “Available at...” - Make the logo area in more of a box - The space between “to” and “be” should be the amounf of space between the text and the can
xenning - Likes the colors - Likes without the black bar, but likes the red text - Make hair more defined - Nice layout - Shift model to cover edge of star more
Riju - Likes the black bar; that “Fabulous” stands out - Fix hair - Add kerning to tagline - Maybe blur body to focus on hair - Add more hair on edge of star
revisions
you’re never too young to be fabulous.
STYLES CHANGE. SEXY IS FOREVER. Available at sexyhair.com and professional salons.
final ad
you’re never too young to be fabulous.
STYLES CHANGE. SEXY IS FOREVER. Available at sexyhair.com and professional salons.