Design and Production

Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages

Chapter 14

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Chapter Outline

I. Chapter Key Points

II. Visual Communication

III. Print Art Direction

IV. Print Production

V. Television Art Direction

VI. Broadcast Production

VII. Effective Web Design

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Key Points• Explain how visual impact is created in

advertising• List the principles of layout and explain how

design is affected by media requirements• Describe how art and color are reproduced• Explain how the art director creates TV

commercials• Identify the critical steps in planning and

producing broadcast commercials• Summarize the techniques of Web design

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Visual Communication

• Six key reasons for the effective use of visuals in advertising

1. Grab attention

2. Stick in memory

3. Cement belief

4. Tell interesting stories

5. Communicate quickly

6. Anchor associations

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Visual Communication

Visual impact• A picture in a print ad

captures more than twice as many readers as a headline does

• Initial attention is more likely to turn into sustained interest

The art director• In charge of the visual

look of the message• Most difficult challenge

is transforming a concept into words and pictures

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Print Art Direction

Illustrations and Photos• Photos

– The authenticity of photography makes it powerful

• Illustrations– Illustrations eliminate

many details of a photo

Color• Attracts attention• Provides realism• Establishes moods• Builds brand identity• Spot color

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Typography

• The appearance of the ad’s printed matter in terms of the style and size of typefaces

Fonts• Basic set of letters in a

particular typeface– Serif

– Sans serif

Justification• Justified type

– Flush right– Flush left

• Unjustified type– Ragged right– Ragged left

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Typography

Type Measurement• Points

– Smallest system of measurement units

• Picas– Bigger unit of

measurement

Legibility• How easy it is to

perceive the letters• Reverse type, all

capitals, and surprinting all hinder the reading process

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Layout and Design

• Layout– A plan that imposes

order and creates an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing

Common Ad Layouts• Picture window• All art• Panel or grid• Dominant type or all

copy• Circus• Nonlinear• Grunge

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Design Principles

• Design has both functional and aesthetic needs– Makes the message easy

to perceive– Makes it attractive and

pleasing to the eye

Common Principles• Direction• Dominance• Unity• White space• Contrast• Balance• Proportion• Simplify, simplify,

simplify

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Layout Stages

• Thumbnail sketches

• Rough layouts

• Semicomps and comprehensives

• Mechanicals

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Print Production

• Different media have different demands on design and production

• Newsprint not a good surface for reproducing fine details

• Excellent photographic and color reproduction differentiate magazines from newspapers

Tips for Designers• Graphics• Size• Colors• Figure/ground• Typography• Product identification• Extensions• Shape• Motion

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Art Reproduction

• Line art– Image is solid on a white

page

– A drawing or illustration

• Halftone– Have a range of grey

tones between the black and white

– Photographs

Color Reproduction• Process colors• Four-color printing• Color separation

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Printing Processes

• Letterpress

• Offset Lithography

• Rotogravure

• Flexography

• Silkscreen

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Printing Processes

Digitization• Uses computer

technology to break images into tiny grids, coded electronically for tone and color

• How computers handle the color reproduction process

Binding and Finishing• Special printing effects

used to enhance ads and other printed materials

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Television Art Direction

• Excitement and drama in a television ad are created through the moving images

• Visual storytelling is important, even for abstract visual concepts

Video Graphics• Stock footage• Crawl• Morphing

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Broadcast Production

• The producer oversees the production on behalf of the agency and client and is responsible for the budget, among other things

• The director takes the art director’s storyboard and makes it come to life on film

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Broadcast Production

Producing Commercials• Animation• Stop motion• Music and action

TV Production Process• Preproduction• The shoot• Postproduction

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Effective Web Design

• Web pages should follow the same layout rules as posters

• Web pages can combine elements and design styles from many different media

Action and Interaction• Web advertisers are

continuing to find ways to make the imagery more engaging

• Sites should have clear navigation

• Regular site visitors should be able to customize the site