Instructor Manual for Advertising Design by Medium A Visual and st Verbal Approach 1 Edition By Robyn Blakeman. NOTE (Lecture Notes and Assignments Only)
Part 1: Lecture Notes Chapter One Lecture Notes The Visual and Verbal Message is Grounded in Research There are two basic types of research: 1. Qualitative. 2. Quantitative. The Marketing Plan is the Client’s Business Plan 1. The marketing plan organizes and analyzes the overall environment in which the brand will be seen and used. 2. Before any creative executions are undertaken, the client or marketer must first determine what they want to do—financially, strategically, and competitively. 3. It identifies the current market conditions by looking at any internal and external factors that could affect a brand’s success. Creative Brief: The Creative Plan of Attack 1. The creative brief, also known as a copy platform, creative work plan, creative plan, or copy strategy, is the next step in the evolution of the marketing plan. 2. A small informative internal document. 3. Created by Account Management for the Creative Team. The brief serves as a road map for idea generation and visual/verbal development. What Makes Up a Creative Brief 1. Target Audience Profile a. Demographics. b. Psychographics.
c. Behavioristics. d. Geographics. 2. Advertising or Communication Objectives a. 1-3 obtainable objectives. b. Objectives can be affected by a brands lifecycle stage: i. New. ii. Mainstream or Mature. iii. Reinvention. 3. Target Analysis a. What they currently think about the brand? b. What you would like them to think about the brand? c. Why should the target believe it? 4. Product Features and Benefits a. 5-7 Feature/Benefit combinations. 5. Positioning of the Product a. A short description of the competing brand. b.
A description of the brands similarities and differences as compared to your client’s brand.
c. A short description of their current advertising, specifically what is currently being said and shown. d.
Their key consumer benefit.
e. A short description and overall appearance of their current logo, such as type, colors, shape.
f. A description of their current slogan or tagline if using one. g. A description of any unique graphics or color combinations used. h.
If applicable a description of what their packaging looks like.
6. Key Consumer Benefit (KCB) a. Unique Selling Proposition (USP). b. Big Idea. 7. Creative Strategy a. Approach and Focus. b. Appeal and Focus. 8. Tone a. Emotional and/or Rational Tone and Focus. 9. Support Statement a. Needs to tightly support the Key Consumer Benefit. 10. Slogan or Tagline 11. Logo 12. Detail Copy a. Amount of detail depends on the medium. 13. Promotional Information a. Coupons. b. Order Forms. c. Contests. d. Sweepstakes. Creatives Create The Words and Images Seen in Advertising
1. Creatives a. Creative Team. b. Creative Directors. c. Art Directors. d. Copywriters. e. Production. 2. Traits needed by the Creative Team. In-House and Freelance Expertise 1. Brand Creative Teams. 2. Freelancers are independent contractors. 3. Creative Boutiques. Need to Know Advertising Terminology 1. Brand. 2. Brand Image. 3. Brand Loyalty. 4. Brand Equity. 5. Promotional Mix. 6. Media Mix. 7. Positioning. 8. Repositioning.
Chapter Two Lecture Notes Conceptual Development: The Story of the Idea 1. Conceptual development, also known as brainstorming, is all about uncovering the unimagined. 2. Leading the creative charge in brainstorming sessions, is the creative team that includes at least one art or creative director and a copywriter. Attendees may also include an account planner and/or an account manager and even occasionally the client. 3. The creative team is responsible for strategically developing the idea, writing copy, and designing ads that seamlessly integrates the brand into the consumers’ life. 4. Once the creative team understands what needs to be accomplished, the next step is to isolate the brand’s inherent drama. a. What brand characteristics will talk directly to the target? b. How can those characteristics be made distinct or dramatically shown and talked about? 5. The first step to finding the inherent drama might simply outline: a. What the brand does. b. What it looks like. c. How it is used. 6. Once exhausted, if still looking for inspiration, the next step might focus on: a. The Unexpected. b. The Unusual. 7. It’s important to understand, whether conceptualizing, writing or designing, that consumers will not work to understand abstract ideas they want messages that can be
easily understood since they will probably be multitasking while listening, scrolling or reading the advertising message. The Creative Brief Is the Foundation Behind Imaginative Ideas 1. Fortunately, there is no business document that determines creative direction. The documents discussed thus far: the marketing plan and creative brief, look only at the research done on the brand, target, competitors, overall marketplace and communication needs. 2. The brief’s job is to: a. Outline both brand and consumer needs and wants. b.
Clearly define what communication efforts need to accomplish.
c. Be the foundation for the visual/verbal direction. The brief supplies the creative team with an informational starting point. 3. Once the creative team understands what needs to be accomplished, the next step is determining a visual/verbal solution that will bring the brief to life. The Black Hole of Art Versus Business. 1. The tighter the brief, the more emancipating and energizing brainstorming sessions can become. 2. Less defined briefs are more open to interpretation and can impede the teams progress as they get lost in a deluge of ideas with no strong ties to the brand or target. 3. Every word should help the creative team to see the brand in a new way. The more informative the brief, the more distinctive the final visual/verbal identity will be, helping the brand to step out and away from its competitors.
4. Most brand categories are crowded, and a lot of advertising is repetitive. A good creative recognizes this and looks for an innovative and memorable way to make their brand stand out amongst the clutter. 5. In order to position a brand as a solution to the target’s problem, it cannot mimic solutions communicated by other competitors within the brand category. The first time the target experiences a visual/verbal message, it’s seen as new, unusual, educational, or inspirational and becomes part of the brand’s image. 6. Memorable solutions to the client’s advertising problem begin with ideas that creatively and imaginatively solve a problem for the target. Finding the Elusive Visual and Verbal Solution 1. All great ads begin and end with a strategically sound idea. Finding it is not only fun but also almost always a bit frustrating. 2. Good ideas can come from imaginative musings, life experiences, and personal interests, and some good old fashioned luck. A good idea will never come from dull, inexperienced imaginations. Beginning the Conceptual Process: Visual and Verbal Solutions 1. The creative team initiates the creative process with a lot of daydreaming, talking, and doodling. You need to erase any preconceived notions about the brand before you can see new solutions and directions. 2. The goal of a conceptual development sessions is to illuminate the obvious and search for a new and innovative direction. 3. Good ideas are elusive but plentiful, great ideas are much less abundant, and successful and memorable ideas could be put in the once in a blue moon category. A successful idea
is certainly not defined as something you’ve seen before or that can be tweaked to fit an existing mold. Fighting for the Idea: Everyone Will Hate an Idea at Some Point Within the Creative Process 1. At some point some one will hate some part of the final creative solution. Going back to the idea drawing board can be frustrating, time consuming, expensive, and should be avoided when possible. To circumvent this, creatives must not only be staunch advocates for their ideas but also be willing to repeatedly battle for the integrity of their words and images. Computers Versus the Brainstorming Process on Paper 1. Brainstorming is not a technology function; it is still traditionally done the oldfashioned way, on paper. 2. Idea generation is spontaneous and original, it is not about moving the same, no longer original, ideas around the screen or repeatedly using the same stock photos or illustrations as placeholders. 3. The computer is a design tool; it is not a not an ideation tool. 4. It is important to understand that the computer reproduces ideas, it does not create them. The computer cannot dream or imagine; it reproduces, period. Once the idea is solidified, then you can move it to the computer for finishing touches. Great Ways to Jump Start the Ideation Process. Words and Graphics as Brainstorming Devices 1. If you asked a hundred creative teams how they came up with their great ideas or over came a creative blockade, you would get as many different answers. Each team’s
approach will be uniquely theirs. Possible brainstorming options include: a. Talking It Out. b. Word Lists. c. Laddering. d. 180-Degree Brainstorming. e. Exaggerations, Interruptions, and Rejections. f. On The Flipside. g. Mindmapping or Cluster Writing. h. Starbursting. i. Charades. Reasons Behind Mediocre Creative 1. The biggest enemy to creativity is laziness. You did not fully research both your client’s brand and the competition, and did not adhere to the creative brief, and did not exhaust the conceptual phase, so your ideas are off-target or off-strategy. The Life Cycle of the Brand Affects the Message 1. Another consideration when conceptualizing is to know the life cycle stage the brand is in. a. New Product Launches. b. Mainstream or Mature. c. Reinvention.
Chapter Three Lecture Notes Understanding the Language of Advertising Design 1. The vocabulary behind design is not exclusive to advertising. Let’s get a few under our belt. a. Art. b. Design. c. Creativity. d. Dimension. e. One-Dimension. f. Two-Dimension. g. Three-Dimension. h. Content. i. Form. The Elements and Principles of Design 1. The elements and principles of design are the plan behind the idea that ensures visually attractive designs. The designer employs the principles and elements in the same way a copywriter employs grammar. 2. Mastery, of these visual guidelines lays the groundwork for understanding what makes a good design work. The Elements of Design 1. The elements are the visual things we see in a design and include: a. Line. b. Shape.
i. Geometric. ii. Organic. c. Volume. d. Texture. i. Tactile. ii. Implied. e. Value. f. Color. The Principles of Design 1. The principles of design are the standard visual guidelines that govern the way the elements are used within the layout or the arrangement of the elements as a whole. a. Balance. i. Formal. ii. Informal. b. White Space. c. Eye Flow. d. Alignment. e. Dominance. f. Structure. g. Gradation. h. Contrast. i. Negative/Positive Space. j. Unity.
Placement of Components On the Page: What Goes Where? 1. Now that we have the elements and principles of design under our belt it’s time to dissect the types of components you will run into and how to best arrange them on the page or screen. 2. Unfortunately, advertising design is so diverse there is really no right or wrong answer to the question of what goes where in an ad. 3. Typically, a print or digital ad can be made up of any of the following five components, in varied order: h a. Headline. b. Subhead(s). c. Visual(s). d. Body Copy. e. Logo. 4. Not every component needs to be present in every ad; however, order is somewhat predetermined, especially for young designers. 5. The ultimate placement of components on the page will depend on your concept.
Chapter Four Lecture Notes 1. The creative and strategic use of visuals and symbols in advertising can visually say as much about a brand as a paragraph of copy. 2. Visuals speak faster than words, they are more memorable, persuasive and credible, and allow the art director to bring an idea to life in dynamic and emotional ways. 3. It is up to the art director to decide how to visually tell the brand’s story whether through the reality of photography or the artistic expression of an illustration or graphic. 4. The goal is to lead the reader or viewer to a specific meaning or conclusion whether assisted by text or not. 5. Whatever type of image becomes the visual voice of the client’s brand be sure it: a. Reaches the correct target audience. b. Creates interest in an often disinterested audience by focusing on the key consumer benefit. c. Reflects the target’s lifestyle. d. Builds on or develops the brand’s image. e. Ties the brand’s image to the target’s lifestyle. f. Reflects the brand’s life cycle stage. g. Highlights the brand’s current positioning. h. Strategically reflects the appropriate strategy and tone. i. Is attention grabbing. j. Is impactful in some meaningful way. k. Stimulates curiosity. l. Demonstrates specific features and benefits.
m. Gives any text a visual context. n. Reflects what the headline is saying. o. Creates a powerful and memorable brand identity. 6. How the image is shown or the placement of imagery is also diverse. 7. The brand can be: a. Featured alone. b. Shown in use. c. Placed in a unique setting or within body copy. d. Be compared to another brand. e. Show before and after results. f. Interact with the headline. g. Be grouped together with other images. h. Appear large or small. i. Be literal or abstract in appearance. j. Be a simple black-and-white or full of color image. Visual Imagery Needs a Strong Verbal Voice 1. Advertising’s ability to communicate an informed meaning or experience visually increases the viewer or reader’s visual literacy about the brand and its use(s). How Literal or Symbolic Do You Want To Get? 1. There are two distinct types of visuals used in advertising: a. Realistic or Literal. b. Symbolic.
2. Visuals can be used specifically for visual or artistic impact as well as an informative vehicle. Available options might include: a. Simplicity can say a lot. b. Get your target up and moving. c. Talk directly to the target audience. d. Visual metaphors can stop a viewer. e. Search for hidden visual relationships. f. Size matters. g. Surrealism is catchy and beautiful in its simplicity. h. Show don’t tell. i. Interactive options are engaging and memorable. j. Color sets a mood or tone. k. Give your ad white space. l. Eye flow, as an accent. m. Customize it. n. Negative space is a positive visual. o. Design a typeface to deliver your message. The Expressive and Detailed Photograph 1. Photographs are believable and full of details that can help the target imagine the brand in their life and the benefits of ownership. 2. The decision to include a black-and-white or color photograph instead of an illustration or line art depends on the concept being used, the image of the brand, the budget, and the medium.
3. Photographs can be used alone to tell a visual story or as visual support for text. 4. The choice of image no matter where it will be seen must be chosen purposefully to solve a business problem not an artistic one. 5. Photography’s role in modern advertising is multidimensional. It must: a. Attract and hold the target’s attention. b. Often deliver a message with no words. c. Ensure it visually supports what the copy is saying. d. Simultaneously support and/or enhance the brand’s and target’s self image. e.
Have viral potential.
f. Project both credibility and quality. g. Create some type of emotional response. h. Motivate the target to action. i. Inspire engagement. j. Build brand loyalty. k. Ultimately produce a sale. The Choice to Use Photographs 1. Photographs are realistic and relatable. 2. Thanks to the visual reality photographs bring to the advertised message, certain types of brands will often use them in ads promoting services. 3. They are a great option for: a.
Immersing the brand in the target’s lifestyle.
b. Projecting his interests. c. Controlling their eye movement across the page in a preset pattern.
d. Projecting status or can even tap into their senses by making their mouth water. e.
Vicariously hear the activity shown.
f. Taste or smell the image. 4. Certain images are guaranteed attention getters. Getting the Photograph Just Right: The Photo Shoot 1. The Photo Shoot. Black-and-White Photographs Versus Color 1. Black-and-white photographs are an anomaly and are much cheaper than color imagery. 2. Halftones. 3. Some of the strong reasons to choose black-and-white photograph over color include: a. Black-and-white photographs comprise only highlights, shadows, and the shades of gray between. In contrast, each hue in a color photograph adds an element to the image, which can distract viewers from the subject. b. Composition can be seen more readily in a black-and-white image because structure and spatial relationships take precedence. c. Shapes, lines, textures, and contrast within a black-and-white image are prominent. d. The more complete the tonal range, the more dynamic the image. e. Researchers have found that consumers view black-and-white images differently than color ones. f. Black-and-white photographs are timeless and are excellent mood or attitude setters. Color Photographs Offer Up a Dose of Reality
1. The obvious reason to choose color photographs is they project reality. 2. Choose color images to project emotion or set a mood, or when it must be used to expose a diverse pallet of colors. Black-And-White Images Pop with Spot Color 1. An excellent alternative to straight black-and-white or color imagery is to combine the two together using spot color. 2. Spot color is an excellent way to spice up a black-and-white photograph by calling attention to a small area that has been signaled out to receive color. Cropping Out What’s Not Important 1. Cropping is the removal of any unnecessary section(s) of an image, it is used when the art director wants to call attention to a specific area of an image by removing any imagery that is not needed to push the key consumer benefit and visual/verbal message. 2. All cropped images need to be either placed within a box or attached to one or more of the edges. 3. The “attachment” grounds the partial images so detached body parts do not float on the page. Black-and-White Line Art 1. A simple line drawing with no tonal qualities is known as line art. 2. Having a light and airy feel a line drawing is a great choice when you want to keep your visual message simple. 3. Drawings simplify a design and create a strong black-and-white contrast on the page or screen, as opposed to black-and-white photographs, which can cause the ad to recede by graying down the design.
4. Line art works well in many mediums when you need to highlight brands that have small delicate details, or if you need a simply rendered character representatives that can be photographed or animated. The Style of Illustrations 1. An illustration can be defined as a drawing, painting or digitally created image that uniquely informs and visually represents a brand or concept. 2. Illustrations, unlike line art, have tonal qualities, to give them depth and dimension. 3. Illustrations can expand the number of possible conceptual solutions thanks to its ability to fantastically portray a diverse amount of abstract concepts and ideas. 4. Illustrations can portray abstract concepts and ideas more imaginatively because they are not constricted by reality bringing a sense of individuality to a concept and thus to a brand. 5. As a visual device they can: a. Bring a character representative like the Keebler Elves to life. b. Show fantastical images and scenes often unavailable in photography such as placing the brand on the moon complete with alien consumers, or by reincarnating a long dead historical figure. c. Easily reflect any historical or future time period. d. Attract attention. e. They are unique, and individualistic to the brand, making it more difficult for competitors to emulate, thanks to the fact that not everyone can illustrate, but everyone can shoot a photograph. 6. Illustrations are less expensive to use than photographs and can be much easier to use in
diverse types of media. Budget Oriented Clip or Stock Art 1. Clip art often free, is an existing line-art drawing. 2. Stock art typically must be purchased, refers to existing photographs. The Visual Voice of Graphics 1. A graphic uses a combination of visuals and/or shapes and type to colorfully, symbolically, and uniquely represent an idea or concept. 2. When designed especially for a brand, text is another type of expressive graphic image as is the overall alignment, spacing, size, and color treatment used to create the company or brand’s verbal personality. Simple but Powerful Graphic Elements 1. If the goal is clean up, align, divide, or announce, then the addition of simple graphic elements can help without dominating the overall design. Outline with A Border or Frame 1. Use a border if you want to frame or confine your design. 2. Borders or frames are not a required design element, for most mediums, but they can help in calling attention to your ad on the page or screen. 3. Borders are often used as a graphic or decorative device, tying an ad together and setting it off from surrounding copy or other ads. 4. An inset graphic border is a half-inch smaller on all four sides than the printable or viewable size of an ad. They can either confine all images and type inside, creating a ring of white space around the ad, or allow the background colors to bleed off one or more sides.
A Very Few Border Rules 1. A few rules of thumb for using borders: a. For high-end stores and merchandise, use a thin or elegant-looking border and for discount establishments, a heavier border might be required. b. Beyond these basic rules, look to your typeface for guidance. By matching the thickness of the border to the overall weight of your typeface you can create structure between components.
Chapter Five Lecture Notes Type Choice Reflects Brand Image 1. Psychologically the typeface used in logo, ad, and package design, visually has as much to say as the message itself. 2. Type is more than functional; it should be thought of as a type of graphic voice for the brand. 3. Type is an art form of shapes, curves, circles, lines, and thicknesses. 4. Type seen on a printed page and a digital screen is very different. 5. Sizing, spacing, and line lengths will differ depending not only on where the ad will be seen but also in what size it will be viewed. Type Is Both a Visual and Verbal Tool 1. The typeface used in an ad should reflect both its image and the key consumer benefit the concept is designed around. 2. The only hard and fast rule of type design is to ensure readability and legibility. Readability is achieved when the target can read an ad quickly, meaning that it is not too small, too tightly kerned or leaded, to decorative, set in an unfamiliar format, or has lost some of its clarity during printing. 3. Legibility refers to whether, in that short look, the target could read and understand the entire message. The Vocabulary of Type Design 1. There are five distinct varieties of type styles: a. Serif. b. Sans Serif.
c. Script. d. Display or Decorative. e. Modern. 2. Use depends on the concept, the target audience to be reached, media choice, type size, and brand image. 3. Each set of styles is categorized by its typeface or name such as Futura or Times that identifies its unique set of letters, numbers, and punctuation. 4. A font consists of all upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation for a specific typeface. 5. Weight refers to the thickness or thinness of the typeface’s body. Type Size and the Up and Down of Letterforms 1. Types overall size or height, affects what you want the reader to see first, second and so on, and can be used to create contrast on the page or screen. 2. The height of a letterforms body is measured in points. 3. Size is also affected by x-height or the height of a typefaces lowercase letters, and the length and height of the face’s ascenders and descenders. 4. Ascenders are the part of the letterform that extends upward from the main body of a letter, as with the letters “b,” “k,” “h,” “d” and sometimes “i” depending on the height of the dot. 5. Descenders are the part of the letterform that extends downward below the baseline, or the invisible line that type sits on, as with the letters “g,” “p,” and “j.” Ascenders and descenders play an important role in how close or open the spacing between lines of text will appear and ultimately a typeface’s overall graphic appeal.
The Manipulation of White Space Between Lines of Text and Letterforms 1. Line spacing is used to describe line spacing in design. 2. Leading is a computer and printing term that assigns a specific numerical point value to the amount of white space appearing between lines of text. 3. Letterspacing, a design term, and kerning, a computer term, refer to the removal or addition of white space between letterforms. 4. Kerning is a term, used in both printing and digital design, where a number represented in points, most often a negative one, is assigned to the space between letterforms. Type Alignment: Setting Type on the Page or Screen 1. Type alignment, refers to the way type is aligned on the page or screen, and is driven by the layout style employed. 2. There are five ways that type can be represented in an ad: a. Center on Center. b. Flush Left, Ragged Right. c. Flush Right, Ragged Left. d. Justified Left and Right. e. Wrapped. 3. Columns. Body copy, or the small story telling text, can be set in either one column or in two or more columns. 4. Using one-quarter inch gutters, or white space, between columns is fairly standard across mediums. 5. An orphan occurs when one word, or the last line of a paragraph of copy appears at the
top of the second column of type. 6. A widow on the other hand, is a single word or first line of a paragraph at the end of a paragraph. 7. Indents. Using paragraph indents typically a quarter inch for body copy, is a quick and easy way to increase white space. Over Designing: Common Type Faux Pas 1. Over use of all caps. 2. Large amounts of reverse body copy. 3. Over use of Italics. 4. Over use of display or decorative typefaces. The Rules of Type Design Are Malleable 1. After vocabulary, it is important young designers understand the fundamental rules or the principles behind type design. 2. Control the number of typefaces used in an ad. 3. There is no rules on the number of different weights or point sizes that can be used within a design, but for an ad to look both unified and structured, the number should be controlled. 4. There have never been any set rules governing the mixing of serif and san serif styles in a design. 5. Typically, they can be mixed together without incident thanks to the diversity in sizing, weights, spacing and color options making these pairings an expressive way to design with type. 6. When combining varied type styles go for contrast, but watch out for conflict.
7. Newer faces known as super-families are specifically designed to compliment each other making pairing easier. 8. The choice to use a single font family is almost foolproof and thus a safe one. 9. Another consideration is ensuring the typeface is historically accurate for the brand. New age technology should not speak through a traditional looking typeface. 10. Beyond shape and form, eye flow and readability and legibility can also be controlled with color. 11. Smaller amounts of type do not have to be set horizontally. Other options include placing headlines or announcement devices vertically down the side of the page or screen. 12. Using type as a design element is an art. It is important for young designers to understand that type does more than speak for the brand it also visually and verbally represents the emotions of the words, as well as the reflects the brand’s image and the target’s self image, in its unadorned lines, peaks and valleys, or colorful rounded curves. Print: The Breakdown of the Typeface Generation 1. Type quality is affected by the diverse steps leading up to printing. 2. Type quality can also be adversely affected when placing certain serif typefaces or those with exceptionally thin lines, on a dark or heavily screened background. The Differences Between Type for Page Design and Digital 1. Digital media has special requirements distinctly different from print. 2. The most important aspect of moving from print to digital is to make sure the same typeface is employed across both print and digital pieces. 3. In digital design it is important you use a typeface that is web-safe, or one that displays correctly not only on a website but across different browsers and devices.