Principles and Elements of Design (14th Feb 2011)

Today we've being told to find 3 Ads that cover the following topics and explain why that these ads fits into these categories:

- Unity

- Variety

- Hierarchy

- Dominance

Ad 1: Suisse Mocha Ad (General Foods International Coffees circa. 1986)

First of all, there is unity in this ad as there are common elements that advertise for coffee (such as the Cup of Coffee and the Morning Paper), second of all there is variety for this ad, this being from the assorted coffee products available to that typical table setup you expect to have every morning. Thirdly, there is that established order of the visual elements (hierarchy) in this ad, and from most significance to least significance, this includes:

- The Cup of Coffee

- The 'How to Civilise 7am' Text (This would be the central axis point of the ad)

- The Morning Newspaper

- The Coffee Powder (one saying 'Suisse Mocha')

- The Assorted Coffee Powder

The last significant element of this ad is Dominance, and that can be seen with the Cup of Coffee in the ad.

Ad 2: Tuf-Neck BMX Parts and Accessories

The unity element in this ad is to show to customers how tough their products are whilst in the variety elements of this ad is the type of products that are available to customers as well as the colours and typography used in the ad. There is that established order (or the hierarchy) in the ad, and this includes (the most significant to the least significant):

- The Tiger

- The Tag-Line used for the Ad (Tuf-Neck sinks it's teeth into BMX)

- The Tuf-Neck Logo

- The Tuf-Neck Products (such as it's Alloy Chainrings and Seat Post)

- The Writing

Lastly there is that dominance element to the ad and this being the Tiger with it's 'In your face' look

Ad 3: VW Beetle Ad (for USA)

If there is something in common with this ad (the unity aspect that is), is that there are many cars out on the market that can go through so much fuel. Second of all there are cars out there that can save on fuel (whether that's a myth or not I'm not sure on), even though the ad does in some way show a lack of variety of available cars out on the market, but does show the variety of cars in that ad that waste fuel.

There is an arranged order in that ad, but it's mainly that the amount of cars at the service station that dominates the ad whilst the VW Beetle is right at the bottom of the ad. There is a dominant message to this ad is that there are fuel-saving alternative cars out there, the use of black and white colours (or shades) is what also dominates this ad as it tries to paint a grim picture of the reality of motoring.