Through a designer’s eyes
Mon. Apr, 2009 by Amy
This is somewhat random, but I find it funny how I cannot turn my brain off from evaluating and assessing design and visual communication. Signage, posters, ads, catalogs, menus….everything really is evaluated and critiqued in my mind. I can’t help but notice or question font choices, kerning, colors, alignment, and especially content.
I know a lot of designers do this, and the general public evaluates this as well- but sometimes in a more subliminal way. The consumer may not be thinking that the font looks dated, the design looks amateur, or the photography is bad, but the impact is absorbed just as clearly.
I read a book recently by the author of The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, called Blink. It had a lot of interesting insights into our minds and how we make decisions, and how those decisions are usually formed within seconds.
I’d be curious to know how many of you pay attention to design and advertising beyond just thinking that the new dancing Burger King ads are just really creepy. For example, does anything seem odd to you about this billboard?
Seen near intersection of Burnside and Sandy
I see the intent is to show the care and protection of the Insurance agency represented by a strong adult protecting a vulnerable child from exposure. Every time I pass it I wonder if anyone working on that campaign had small children. Who in their right mind puts a child (actually looks like a baby) with bare feet into rubber boots? I mean, socks are pretty much required unless you like sweaty, blistered, chafed feet. I mentioned this to a designer friend the other day, and the funny thing was she knew exactly what billboard I was talking about. What bothered her most was the size of the boots in relationship to the hands. Are those doll boots? Giant’s hands?
How does this affect their impact with the consumer? Not sure, but their ads do not seem authentic to me.