Megan De Souza s209017025 Visual Communications III Glenn Meyer 1 August 2011
Critical Analysis of a Diesel Advert Essay
I have read and understand the information on plagiarism outlined by the writing centre. I have given in-text references for all quotations (whether direct quotations, paraphrasing or summaries) and all ideas I have borrowed from others. Where I have used the exact words of others (direct quotations), I have indicated this by using quotation marks. I have not allowed and will not allow anyone to plagiarise my work. I understand that the NMMU will not tolerate plagiarism and that I may not be awarded any mark for an assignment in which plagiarism is evident.
Signed: M. De Souza
Date: 1 August 2011
A little more than 20 years ago in 1978, Renzo Rosso decided to start an innovative brand called Diesel, a brand which would go on to earn a global average of 330 Million US dollars annually. Rosso's wish for his brand was to break free from the constraints of normalcy and to create a clothing line that defined the consumer as an independent, strong-willed individual. Today his company is well-known for their progressive and controversial advertising campaigns which often have a satirical undertone, mocking modern society and creating awareness for international issues we are currently faced with today. In this essay, I will attempt to break down the composition of a chosen Diesel advertisement and analyse certain elements and semiotics within the photograph, discussing the possible significance of those elements and techniques .
Sandy desert overtakes the China Wall
The image I have chosen to critique carries a message which has been discussed, advertised and debated regularly, ultimately sparking a world-wide effort to create change. Global warming is one of the biggest issues facing our planet and our society today, the
global warming that has occurred since the 1970s was causing over 140 000 excess deaths annually by the year 2004 .[World Health Organization, 2010]. It is therefore no surprise that the Global warming campaign, used to sell a fashion line,
has ignited concerns amongst individuals in the population who feel that this company should not exploit the suffering of the victims affected by these tragedies for their own gain. It can also be debated that they are desensitizing the public to the true nature of what global-warming victims face by inferring in their ad campaigns that life carries on even in crisis and people still care about the ordinary mundane things like fashion. In fact, in some of the adverts, the people look to be enjoying their new world,with an obvious callousness . On the other side of the debate it can be seen that the company is trying to raise awareness for global warming through their brand promotion, while they are also mocking societies values, morals and lifestyle. The image shows a well-known historical site, which cleverly draws on people's general knowledge about the location and surrounding environment of that site, and then seeks to challenge that knowledge by placing it in a different context. [Clarke. 1997:27] The Great wall of China is surrounded by a great expanse of desert that looks to be like the Saharan desert. The wall stretches into the distance, covered in sand and breaking down while in the foreground, stand two very fashionable, very good-looking people who do not seem to bothered by this change in environment. The two people are looking at each other while the woman sits on the wall and empties sand out her high-heel shoe, there is a hand-bag on the floor and the man is leaning against the wall waiting for her to finish. Their attitude, body language and gesture is one of indifference at the world around them as they remain composed and fashionable no matter the circumstances. The lighting used in this image is a very harsh, contrasted lighting, which illustrates the intense heat of the desert. The front of the woman's body is completely in shade, as her back is towards the sun, yet the shadowed areas still hold enough light and detail to show her stylish clothes and her beauty. The sun falls on parts of her body, such as her beautifully tanned legs as the front of the man's body is facing the sun. He appears to be frowning a bit as the sun is in his eyes, creating a shadow area around the eye area so the viewer cannot quite see his eyes but they get the feeling of the intensity of the sun. This heat is further illustrated by the UV ray just left of the women's face. Eye contact is not made with the viewer, but instead is made between the two figures, creating a dynamic between the two people. This is one way in which the viewer is drawn in as they try figure out the relationship between the two people. The relationship is one
which is difficult to read. One could take the distance between them as a possible indication as to the status of their relationship. One could also take the rather vague look on his face as a sign of slight annoyance that he has to wait in the hot sun while she empties the sand from her inappropriate footwear. The women in turn, looks at him in defiance. Neither one of them look happy to be where they are, but instead look quite tired and uninterested. The man leans against the wall in a relaxed position, with both arms up on the wall supporting his stance. The women however does look like she would be comfortable for to much longer, as she has to try support herself on that slanted wall,yet she pulls that awkward pose off with ease. There could an underlying tenseness between the two of them, but the viewers analysis of an image is often different to the next viewer's perception of the image, usually based on how they perceive the world and their past experience's. The colour palette in this image works well with the concept of the series and helps to illustrate and create the atmosphere required to make the viewer aware of the circumstances of the future in that picture. The colour palette is made up mostly of different shades of browns, whites and grey's. There seems to be a warming filter applied to the image as even the blue sky seems to be a strange colour, although it creates the warm atmosphere of Global warming very effectively. The composition is made up predominantly of the curves of the desert as well as the wall. These curves help create movement, leading your eye into the frame and then back into the distance as your eye follows the wall. These curves help not only to create movement, but also aid in creating depth and perspective within the composition. The wall, while being the main structural device in creating depth,also acts as the visual reference and creates a harmonic flow throughout the composition. That visual weight is balanced by the larger female in the foreground of the picture. This distorted perspective makes the women far larger than the man and places and plays with scale and imbalance, this distortion can be for various reasons. Among the possible reasons for this intended distortion could be to place more emphasis on the women, putting the man in the distance as a secondary element. This could also help to play on the dynamics between men and women and how in recent years, women have been placed on an equal level with men in a world that was once known as a 'man's world'. This distortion could also be an indicator as to the status of their own relationship in the picture and could be seen as her being the dominant character in the relationship.
The law of gestalt is a phycological term that suggests the human brain will see the visual forms in a photograph, and be able to form the rest of the image in that environment. For example, although we cannot see the rest of the Great Wall of China, we assume the wall must carry on past that frame and that which ever way they are going, they have a fairly long journey. This series relies on the Gestalt law to make their ad campaign a successful one as the human brain will fill in the blanks based upon prior knowledge of the scale of the subject matter such as the New York skyscrapers and Mount Rushmore. [Wertheimer, 2011] There are many reoccurring themes in this advertising campaign,other than the law of Gestalt. Among the various themes in the campaign is the dominant presence of women in the picture. Most of the photographs are comprised of two people, a man and a woman, with the exception of a few which have 3 people. In most of them there is always a dynamic between the man and the woman and the woman seem to take a powerful role in many of the compositions. I also found that there was not a lot of culturally diverse people in these ad campaigns but instead, they perhaps used people who would appeal to a specific region such as Europe. The people in the majority of these pictures seem to be amused with the circumstances and are often photographed 'on holidays' having fun and in love. It carries the message that even in a world turned upside down, the young and fairly wealthy can still enjoy themselves with no consequence and they shall still continue to 'live it up looking stylish'. Although their lives remain care-free and unchanged there are
visual clues and warnings as to the seriousness of the situations they are portrayed in. In some of the pictures in the ad campaign, the photographs are deliberately tilted to throw the horizon line off. This can be a little awkward for viewing as the eye seeks to correct this. It carries a message that the world pictured in this campaign is not at all correct, the world is off-balance. Other warnings in this campaign are ones of sun-damage to skin where the man puts sunblock on the woman and reoccurring imagery of water, possibly saying there is now an abundance of water around us so why not make the world our playground, so to speak. In conclusion, although this campaign is controversial, I believe they were intending to raise awareness for Global warming as well as the attitude our society currently has towards these sorts of issues. Society today is obsessed with image and we live in a world of consumers who's main objective is to obtain more materialistic things they don't really need so their status in society can be upgraded or maintained. Diesel seeks to mock this part of our society, for without awareness, cannot come change. I have analyzed and explained the possible semiotic meaning of my chosen image as well as discussed other images from the same campaign, providing context and continuity for the campaign.
Refernce List Book: David Dukel. 2006. Composition. AVA Publishing SA. UK Graham Clarke. 1997. The Photograph. Oxford University Press Inc. United States Internet: Diesel. 2011. Diesel. Available: http://www.diesel.com/ [30 July 2011] Diesel. 2007. Diesel – Heritage. Available: http://www.diesel.com/heritage [30 July 2011] Duncan. 2007. Diesel Global Warming Ready. Available: http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/diesel-global-warming-ready/ [30 July 2011] Max Wertheimer. 2011. Gestalt theory. Available: http://www.gestalttheory.com/ [30 July 2011] Renzo Rosso. 2006. Chicargo Fashshion Magazine. Available: http://www.chicagofashionmagazine.com/FashionDesigners/Diesel.php3 [30 Jul 2011]
World Health Organization. 2010. Climate change and health. Available: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html [30 July 2011]
Images: Notcot. 2007. Global Warming - Diesel Style. Available: http://www.notcot.com/archives/2007/02/global_warming.html [30 July 2011] Reading List: Daniel Chandler. 2009.Semiotics for Beginners. Available: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html [30 July 2011] Enric Gili For t . 2005. Diesel
Case Study “ Branded Hedonism”. Available:
http://trex.id.iit.edu/~enricg/portfolio/brand_analysis/Diesel_fnal_report.pd f [30 July 2011]
Merris Griffiths. 2006. A Semiotic Analysis Of Diesel Print Ads. Available: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/lmg9302.html [30 July 2011] Paul Martin Lester Professor. 2006. Visual Communication Images with Messages, Fourth Edition, (C) 2006. Available: http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/wadsworth/notes.html [30 July 2011]