FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS RAND AMIN
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Packaging Brownie Blues is a business that specializes in homemade brownies and their competitive advantage is that they are organic and homemade- this is emphasized by their packaging. The use of the brown paper/ cardboard creates a very organic feel- and it can have two of the following effects. First being an environmentally friendly and organic sense to the packaging and the other being a reminisce to school lunches- it reminds you of the packed lunches that you would take to school with you in brown paper bags. By using the texture and color of brown paper bags they have emphasized that their products are homemade- almost like a lunch your mom would give you before leaving for school- adding the feeling of sentiment to their products. Color is also used to create contrast and add a pop of color to the packaging- the main color is yellow and that represents happiness and warmth, insinuating that consuming the brownies will make you feel that way. They also use different colors for different occasions, such as pink for Mother’s day and red for Happy Birthday- this makes the product much more specialized and personal and each color can represent something else- for instance pink represents love- and that is perfect for mother’s day and red is festive- therefore suitable for a birthday occasion.
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Corporate identity
Incube Middle East is an interior design firm and their corporate identity relies heavily on the use of geometric shapes and lines. It uses two colors throughout the entire identity- which are orange and a few different values and shades of dark greytwo contrasting colors. The logo consists of the name in both Arabic and English, (although the English is much larger and is designed more than the Arabic), a shape, and the tagline. The name in English and the shape have two different colors, orange and gray, the “in” and “cube” are different and the cube is divided into two sections and each section is a different color- this difference in colors could represent the integration of different ideas and concepts, for instance the ideas and demands of the clients being integrated with the ideas of the firms. At the foreground, there are two lines above the logo and these lines create a sense of movement- representing the flow of creative ideas within the firm. The business card has a relatively organic style due to the curvy separation between the orange and the grey and the use of the curvy lines, whereas the poster is very geometric and everything is divided into squares and rectangles- playing on the idea of “incube” and “incubating”, therefore putting examples of their work into “cubes”. The poster also introduces another shade of orange to add depth to the poster, but without introducing different colors that are not part of the corporate identity.
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Photograph
This is a photograph that I took and I did not think much of it when I took it but the more I looked at it the more I realized how jaw dropping and beautiful this scene was. This is a landscape and it represents an Island that I went to in Malaysia called Penang. There is a lot of harmony present in this photograph, and I don’t know if that is a biased opinion because I was living in complete bliss when I took this picture and this picture is taking me back to that mentality, but there is complete harmony between all the different shades and colors. There is a smooth transition from the sky blue, to the ocean blue and eventually the brown. What stands out the most about this photograph and why I love it so much is the repetitive illusion of the clouds and the waves- they look like they are synced and harmonized as in this composition they are perfectly aligned and mimic each other’s “movement”. This creates a beautiful metaphor or idea in which that maybe reaching for the stars isn’t that difficult and as far as we think it is- maybe there is a way to reach what we dream if we just look hard enough.
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS ADVERTISEMENT This is a particularly interesting advertisement by Arabian Automobiles. It is extremely minimal, but personally I think it is very effective. It includes the Infiniti logo and the tagline on the top and at the bottom there is the Arabian Automobiles logo and in the center, in very large font is “INFINITI Q50� and that is it. The background color is a dark royal blueinsinuating luxury. The fact that there is no picture or anything puts a very large amount of emphasis on the text in the middle- making sure that everyone who passes by will read it- once they read it without seeing a picture, they will be curious about how this new car model looks like and why is it being advertised? Is there an offer? Are there any new cool features? I think that this minimalism creates a very strong and appealing image of the brand- almost insinuating that our product is too good to even need advertising and the name speaks for itself.
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Illustration This is an illustration by Molly Crabapple depicting the war in Syria. The majority of the illustration is in shades of brown and then there is an intense pop of color- a yellow bus. There is a lot of emphasis created on this bus due to the color contrast and the way the illustration is aligned- it leads the viewers eyes towards it, the child is walking towards it, and the road leads to it too. The fact that it is a yellow bus insinuates that it is a school bus and it speaks volumes about the impact of the war on Syria. Yes, there is distruction of buildings, such as the ones in brown, but more importantly there is a destruction of education and that is a huge problem- because education is the core and the foundation of every society. Buildings can easily be rebuilt, but who will rebuild them? Is it not the future generations? Can you rebuild anything if the essential foundation is missing?
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Poster This is a poster from a university in Iran for an Art show by students and it solely relies on farsi letters to create designs. There is a wide range of colors, but they are all very traditional colors- almost like the colors and patterns you would find on a praying mat. The first thing that grabs your attention is the black letter in the foreground, with eyes in the background. The letter plays as a mask for the face that is behind it creating the metaphor that this art show is your ticket inside the students minds and that you can see their work to understand who they truly are. There is also a lot of movement through out the poster by extending the lines of the letters from the bottom (the gold lines coming down the poster) and the text is also rested at an angle rather than being a straight line so that it mimics the overall alignment of the poster and the gold lines.
FORM+CONTENT ANALYSIS Painting This is a painting by Safwan Dahoul- who is a Syrian artist who had to leave Syria due to the war and he uses his paintings to depict the ongoing war and the pain of leaving your country. This painting depicts two characters- one is a sufi whirler and a woman in black. Sufi whirling is common in Syria and it is a tradition and even considered form of meditation. He is lying down with the woman in black and they are almost wrapped around each other and are using each other to rest. I believe the woman in black, represents the war. It is important to notice the following things: the color contrast between the two characters: white vs. black and the fact that they both mimic each other’s position exactly- even the way their arms are crossed. The space and the background behind them is just empty therefore you can not tell where they are located- but does it really matter? In a war stricken country, every other place is like the other, a dark mess. The fact they are both lying down on each other insinuates a sense of integration- but isn’t it rather strange to show someone integrating with war and misery? That is the painful but powerful realization that this painting offers- this war has been going for so long that the people of Syria have just given up and are given no choice but to accept this fate that they have been given. The war started as a rebellion, but now, no one has it in them to rebel, they just want to survive. And if survival means to lie down with war and death itself, then so it is. Another interesting point is the different range of colors on the whirlers skirt- these colors create a sense of movement as if the skirt is moving- although it is clearly not: this is a metaphor for all the rich history that this skirt had, and the future it could have had- but instead he will just lie here because he has given up.