Y1S1 Design Computing - Visual Communication (Brochure Critique)

I would like to sincerely thank my tutors Ella and Adrian, as well as our unit coordinator Clare, for all your patience and enthusiasm with teaching.

I would like to also thank my classmates and friends who have offered me feedback and advice on this journey so far!

LEONG JIN LING - jleo2231

LEONG JIN LING - jleo2231

BASICS

F

rom 2010 until 2018, Coles' ‘Dow n Dow n’ campaign - Soft copy of 2-page (pages 22 -23) of a Coles catalogue was aimed at reducing prices for their products.

- Screenshots of an original copy

From 2018 onward , its focus shifted to integrat- On shelves Wed 4th March to Tue 10th March 2020 ing a new campaign on top of the existing ‘Down Down’ - Completion of brochure 24th Feb 2020 campaign. It was targeted at supporting local produce, helping charities and communities and implementing sustainability efforts, called “ Good things are happening at Coles1 ” . Hence, from this brochure, we can observe that low prices are still a major selling point for Coles. This is inviting to customers who wish to grab-and-go, taking into he overall design effectively makes use of Gestalt consideration his sav ings simultaneously.

GENERAL

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1

The Sydney Morning Herald. (2018, March 06). Down, down but not out: Coles thinks it's onto a good thing with new ads. Retrieved March 14, 2020

Principles.

A good rule of thumb is that we tend to simplify graphic elements into their simplest forms.

Words become horinzontal lines, images as squares, and circles as carriers for lines. This generates a simple v iew ing pleasure, and content can be easily directed to customers. Coupled with the right colours and he result for this method of organisation and design typography, the two facing pages are sufficient to sell of this brochure is that products and items are the products and their competitive prices. sold as indiv idual units. Products which can be paired together to be organised on the same page instead.

There can be breaking pages that feature these products in con text of daily liv ing.

RESULT

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Coles Supermarkets. (2020, March 04). Coles Catalogue Wednesday March 04 - Tuesday March 10 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://australiacatalogue.com/wp/coles-catalogue-wednesday-4th-march-tue-10th-march-2020/.

symmetry & balance - Facing pages of the brochure are mirrored, providing a line of symmetry down the spine of the brochure. Looking from both afar and up close, this provides a sense of balance - it is easy to read and pleasing on the eye.

negative space (white mask) - Ensures that colours of the products do not clash with the background, and with one another. The white allows for the colour of products themselves to stand out, but also acts as a non-jarring element that ties all other elements together on a page.

- Helps bring the focal point to the products and prices themselves.

It acts as an outer frame for the images, and the white and red of the pricing. This evokes a sense of importance of these information.

colour - Company colours: red and white, and yellow to indicate financial sav ings for products. The bright red colour highlights prices and the white interior of the circle allows easy reading of the text inside.

typography - Consistent: bolded for the description of the product and not bolded for prices per unit.

- Sizes of text are adjusted accordingly to fit the same size of circles, keep v isual harmony in the pages’ design - Rounded sans serif font for the descriptions and prices are also consistent with the Coles logo, showcasing a wellthought design of the catalogue. All of them are cohesive, and thus can be said to be part of their branding.

BASICS

CORE IDEA

design elements - Repeated elements are used across the course of both pages, showing a pattern. This draws attention to the products having a relationship with one another. This also emphasises the content of both the products sold and low prices.

multi-column grids - Gives regularity to the pages. Because of the grids, it allows for the elements to be well arranged within each grid space. A sense of organisation can be felt.

- Two-column grids are used at the top of the pages, while three and four-column grids are used at the bottom. This generates a hierarchy, where the former is seen as most important. Two-column spaces are larger, giving more space for the images and texts themselves.

CORE IDEA

- Soft copy of 2-page (pages 4-5) of an Aldi catalogue - Screenshots of an original copy - On shelves Wed 11th March to Tue 17th March 2020

GENERAL

T

A

LDI is the common brand of two Ger man family owned discount supermarket chains with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries, and an estimated combined turnover of more than €50 billion2.

Because its origins are out of state, perhaps it has to adopt a diff erent marketing strategy to boost competitiveness, not focusing on prices alone.

Aldi. (N.A.). Working for Aldi - The Company. Retrieved March 14, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140822041319/http://www.careers. aldirecruitment.co.uk/working-for-aldi/.

2

he overall design of Aldi's catalogue was not planned w ell.

Aldi makes use of images as their key selling point. Products are being f ramed within the images themselves and photography is the most important method of generating a good catalogue.

They brand the products they sell by giv ing contex t to them (i.e. putting these products in real life scenarios). It is also fair to state that they make use of univ er sal colour s such as black, white and red, and simple t y pography for easy reading.

RESULT

O

ne of the key things that Aldi lacks is organisation for their texts and images. Pages look cramped and overloaded w ith information, while others more far apart and vast. This can potentially be disruptive to customers as there is a lack of regularity, balance and continuation of elements within the pages.

Indeed, the images may look professional on first glance, but ultimately, it is the overall big picture that should sell the products.

Aldi. (2020, March 04). ALDI Catalogue Special Buys Cleaning Day - March 11 and March 14 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://australiacatalogue.com/wp/aldi-catalogue-special-buys-cleaning-day-11-march-and-14-march-2020/

placement of text

grids

typography

colour

scale & texture

- Perhaps because there is a lack of structure and planning, text such as “dairy free, gluten free, nut free, vegan” seems to be inserted loosely. Although it did obey some design rules (e.g. being in the centre of the partner image), if one were to see the big picture, it seems to be lacking cohesion.

- "On Sale Wednesday" is also printed in a sideway fashion. Although this may not be considered crucial information, the printing may be of inconvenience to readers. It is almost an eye sore.

- Modular grids and multi-column grids - Modular gridsus on page 4. They are used to arrange mages of chocolate and the child model).

- Small images (of some products) inserted in corners of each large partner image to provide specificity, and promote these the products. The images, arranged in modular grids, give a sense of curiosity and excitement, aimed at inviting customers to look through the brochure more thoroughly, and to be consciously aware of the products they are looking at.

- However, the catalogue looks disorganised. Images appear haphazardly placed within the two pages. Some of these images look like they do not belong in the bigger picture (scheme).

- Bold and simple typography - Repeated use of black typography for prices of the products being sold. This is useful in grasping the attention of the customers by pattern recognition.

- Additional information printed in fine print listed at the bottom of the page.

Each line of black fine print ends w ith red, indicating the prices and prices per unit. These are guides for the customers to purchase goods that they will want.

- The combination of both the large and small words on both facing pages, emphasises on prices and the utility of the products in context of every day life.

- Simple colours for shapes and text - Consistent use of colour for both large text and fine print on both facing pages: black , white and red - Use of the loud red colour is useful in bringing customers’ attention to prices (i.e. actual selling price and prices per unit of measurement). This is a universal colour for alerting others of crucial information. It is a suitable colour for being captivating to audiences.

- However, I believe that this could be better improved if they were to integrate corporate colours into their catalogues.

Perhaps by adding corporate colours, they could better diff erentiate themselves to other supermarket giants, improving their image as a whole.

- When the images are taken in context, it helps customers to v isualise its sizes relative to other objects. For example, with respect to the Easter chocolate eggs and bunnies, when a model of the young girl is taken in frame, this gives a clearer picture of how big these products are.

Hence, it is effective in delivering the scale of the products sold.

- Texture is shown through the positioning of the products. Some are taken from a flat angle, while others have products being arranged prim and proper. This naturally shows the 3D plane.