REVIEW QUESTIONS
10-4. Explain in what ways visuals add impact to brand communication.
Visual impact in an advertisement has the ability to:
Stick in memory: Visuals persist in the mind because people generally remember
Communicate quickly: Pictures tell stories faster than words. A picture
Anchor associations: To distinguish undifferentiated products with low inherent
10-5. What are the responsibilities of an art director?
The person most responsible for creating visual impact as well as brand identification
elements is the art director. The art director is in charge of the visual look of the
advertisement, both in print and TV, and how it communicates mood, product
Specifically, art directors make decisions about whether to use art or photography in
print and film or animation in television and what type of artistic style to use. They
10-6. Compare the use of black and white, spot color, and full color in terms of
visual impact.
Color is used to attract attention, provide realism, establish moods, and build brand
identity. Print ads with color get more attention than ads without color. Some ads use
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10-7. List the design principles and explain each one.
The arrangement of the pieces in a print ad or video shot is governed by basic
principles of design. The design of an ad has both functional and aesthetic needs. The
functional side of a layout makes the message easy to perceive; the aesthetic side
Simplicity is also a design principle, one that is in opposition to visual clutter. In
general, the fewer the elements, the stronger the impact—an idea expressed in the
phrase “less is more.” Another saying is KISS, which stands for “Keep It Simple,
10-8. What’s the difference between line art and halftones?
There are two general types of printed images: line art and halftones. A drawing or
illustration is called line art because the image is solid lines on a white page.
10-9. What does the phrase four-color printing mean? What are the four process
colors? What does the phrase color separation mean and how does that work?
Full-color images are reproduced using four distinctive shades of ink called process
colors, in a process called four-color printing. These colors are magenta, cyan, yellow,
10-10. Explain the following video terms:
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Animation: The technique of animation traditionally meant drawing images on
Stop motion: A technique used to film inanimate objects like the Pillsbury
10-11. Explain the four steps in the video production process.
Step 2 – Preproduction: The producer and staff first develop a set of production
notes, describing in detail every aspect of the production. These notes are important
for finding talent and locations, building sets, and getting bids and estimates from
specialists. Once the bids for production have been approved, the creative team and
Step 3 – The Shoot:The director shoots the commercial scene by scene, but not
necessarily in the order set down in the script. Each scene shot is called a take, and
after all the scenes in the storyboard have been shot, they are assembled through
editing. Film has to be processed before the director can review it. These processed
scenes are called dailies. Rushes are rough versions of the commercial assembled
from cuts of the raw film footage. The director and the agency creative team view
them immediately after the shoot to make sure everything’s been filmed as planned.
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Step 4 – Postproduction:This is when the commercial begins to emerge from the
hands and mind of the editor. The objective of editing is to assemble the various
pieces of film into a sequence that follows the storyboard. Editors manipulate the
audio and video images, creating realistic 3-D images and combining real-life and
computer-generated images. The postproduction process is extremely important in
video because so many digital effects are being added to the raw film after the shoot.
Another goal of video editing is to manipulate time, which is a common technique
10-12. Draw up a list of guidelines to use in designing a website.
Designers know that Web pages, particularly the first screen, should follow the same
layout rules as posters:
Type should be simple—using one or two typefaces—and avoid words in all
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
10-13. One of the challenges for creative ad designers is to demonstrate a product whose
main feature cannot be seen by the consumer. Suppose you are an art director on an
account that sells shower and bath mats with a patented system that ensures that the mat
will not slide (the mat’s underside is covered with tiny suction cups that grip the tub’s
surface). Brainstorm some ways to demonstrate this feature in a television commercial.
Find a way that will satisfy the demands of originality, relevance, and impact.
This exercise will be fun for students and generate a number of different responses
that will help them understand the challenge of demonstrating features not visible to
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10-14.Choose one of the following design critique problems:
a. Print:What principles govern the design of a magazine ad? Collect two sample
ads, one that you think is a good example of effective design and one that you
think is not effective. Critique the two ads and explain your evaluation based on
what you know about how design principles work in advertising layouts. Make
suggestions for how the less effective ad could be improved.
The principles that govern magazine ad design are the same as those that govern
all good design. Direction creates a visual path for readers. A dominant element
establishes a focal point in the ad, and unity ensures the all the elements appear
In addition to general principles of design, a magazine is usually considered to
Students will select a number of different magazine samples, but their critiques
b. Television:Find a television commercial that you thought was creative and
entertaining. Then, find one that you think is much less creative and entertaining.
Analyze how the two commercials work to catch and hold your attention. How do
the visuals work? What might be done to make the second commercial more
attention getting? You can also use online sources to find commercials at
http://www.adcritic.com.
There is an abundance of possible samples from which students may select, and
10-15. You have been asked to design a web page for a local business or organization
(choose one from your local community). Go to www.flickr.com or
www.1StopPictures.comand choose a visual to illustrate the website by trying to match
the personality of the organization to a visual image. Then, identify the primary
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categories of information that need to be included on the page. Develop a flow chart or
map that shows how a typical user would navigate through the site. What other image
could you find that might be used on inside pages to provide some visual interest to this
business’s online image? Now consider interactivity: How could this site be used to
increase interactivity between this company and its customers? Create a plan for this site
that includes the visual elements and a navigation flow chart.
10-16. You have a new client who has a new hand lotion for men, one that is designed to
help men whose hands take a beating in their jobs. One of your colleagues, a
photographer, believes the only way to visualize a product and its use in an ad is through
photography. Another colleague, an artist, argues that there are times when art is a much
better way to illustrate a product than photography, and that this production is a good
example. Analyze the differences between using an illustration and using a photograph.
What are their roles and how do they create different types of effects? Are there certain
product categories where you would want to use an illustration or a photograph and vice
versa? Which would work best for this new product? Develop a quick presentation for
your class that explains which approach you would use for this assignment.
When art directors use the word art, they usually mean photographs and illustrations,
each of which serves different purposes in ads. Photography has an authenticity that
makes it powerful. Most people feel that pictures don’t lie. For credibility,
photography is a good medium. A photograph is more realistic and an illustration is
The decision to use a photograph or an illustration is usually determined by the
Students will offer a variety of viewpoints as to whether art or photography works
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