I think the ad may have been too clever regarding your description of the "obvious surprise." The tag says "Find Room" and the flowers are planted in a kitchen, a bathroom, and a utility room (dog dish), giving the message that flowers are not just for the living and dining rooms but other rooms as well..
I wish we'd gone over something like this before going to critiques at school!
Kids were cruel and didn't really approach a critique in an understanding way. I think this is one of the best articles I've seen that takes a critique and breaks it down with an examples and does not criticize the artist! Bravo!
Guest,
Yes, critique doesn't mean criticize. I know what you mean about having to go through those in school (it was generally either "I like it" or "That's stupid" both of which are anything but helpful). You can see similar articles to this on Creative Curio, my site.
Spruis,
I don't think I quite catch your meaning. The design was very intentional, yes! That's what the whole article is dissecting.
Great article! I've been both a designer (30+ years) and a design teacher and I found this article to be an excellent critique! This type of critique, given in a classroom, would actually provide useful feedback (provided the student was paying attention!).
For the most part, I agree with the critique.
I think we also have to be conscious of why marketing design work exists in the first place...
To increase awareness and thus sales.
My feeling is that this series was aimed at the people who do keep their kitchens spotless (or wish to), perhaps an in-store promotion located in kitchen / home wear departments to increase garden shop traffic by those who would not normally consider buying a plant because it is too messy / dirty.
Possibly a POP display, my initial (design hat off for a moment) consumer reaction is that it makes me want to pick one up, first the clean visual gets my attention, "hmm that looks nice, I could picture that in my home", then the flower draws me to the 25% off which seals the deal / justifies the purchase in my mind.
My comment is that the first image does this perfectly, second image...I think their choice of background tile gives the bathroom an unintended 'institutional / restroom" feel, while the third image is clever, I think they could have made a better choice in flowers / receipt / wall texture & proportion.
Sometimes we have to (momentarily) think like an everyday consumer to deliver the end results our clients expect from our work.
Excellent critique! I believe it was well thought out and I like the layout design of the first one. The design has a lovely flow to it with the juxtaposition of the plant bending and pointing to the tag. Good description of the design.
The ad's distribution of objects is not ideal, however. There are two major pieces, the plant/pot and the receipt. Aesthetic studies tell us that odd numbers are far more visually pleasing than even numbers, and I'd say two is probably the worst even number you could deal with. If your eye isn't already led off the page because of the previously mentioned direction, then it's playing ping-pong, bouncing between these two objects.
Critique the design elements by all means, but the purpose of a ad design is to communicate something desirable to potential buyers so they are motivated to act. The elephant in the room here is none of these say anything or motivate anything.
Design elements have no value unless they get the client's message across in the right way to the right audience, no matter how well done they are. That, after all, is what the designer is being paid for. The purpose of advertising, Sergio Zyman says quite rightly, is to sell more stuff to more people. I can't see where any of these vital tasks has been accomplished.
Submitted by gngcreative on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 01:08.
Missed Point?
I think the ad may have been too clever regarding your description of the "obvious surprise." The tag says "Find Room" and the flowers are planted in a kitchen, a bathroom, and a utility room (dog dish), giving the message that flowers are not just for the living and dining rooms but other rooms as well..
I assume the design was conscious.
Great article!
I wish we'd gone over something like this before going to critiques at school!
Kids were cruel and didn't really approach a critique in an understanding way. I think this is one of the best articles I've seen that takes a critique and breaks it down with an examples and does not criticize the artist! Bravo!
Replies
Guest,
Yes, critique doesn't mean criticize. I know what you mean about having to go through those in school (it was generally either "I like it" or "That's stupid" both of which are anything but helpful). You can see similar articles to this on Creative Curio, my site.
Spruis,
I don't think I quite catch your meaning. The design was very intentional, yes! That's what the whole article is dissecting.
Creative Consultant and author of Creative Curio
Greengate Garden Centres Ad
I find the spatial relationship of the plant head and the reciept too loose. They don't relate/attach themselves to each other.
If the whole ad was flipped right to left there would be a circular unity berween the plant and the receipt keeping the viewer within the design.
Greengate Garden Centres Ad 3
On reviewing ads 2 and 3 I find that they too suffer from the same detached relationship as 1.
great article
Great article! I've been both a designer (30+ years) and a design teacher and I found this article to be an excellent critique! This type of critique, given in a classroom, would actually provide useful feedback (provided the student was paying attention!).
For the most part, I agree with the critique.
Still, I love this ad series.
In the end, it's all about Traffic
I think we also have to be conscious of why marketing design work exists in the first place...
To increase awareness and thus sales.
My feeling is that this series was aimed at the people who do keep their kitchens spotless (or wish to), perhaps an in-store promotion located in kitchen / home wear departments to increase garden shop traffic by those who would not normally consider buying a plant because it is too messy / dirty.
Possibly a POP display, my initial (design hat off for a moment) consumer reaction is that it makes me want to pick one up, first the clean visual gets my attention, "hmm that looks nice, I could picture that in my home", then the flower draws me to the 25% off which seals the deal / justifies the purchase in my mind.
My comment is that the first image does this perfectly, second image...I think their choice of background tile gives the bathroom an unintended 'institutional / restroom" feel, while the third image is clever, I think they could have made a better choice in flowers / receipt / wall texture & proportion.
Sometimes we have to (momentarily) think like an everyday consumer to deliver the end results our clients expect from our work.
About the critique of the plant, pot and tag "Find Room"
Excellent critique! I believe it was well thought out and I like the layout design of the first one. The design has a lovely flow to it with the juxtaposition of the plant bending and pointing to the tag. Good description of the design.
The ad's distribution of
The ad's distribution of objects is not ideal, however. There are two major pieces, the plant/pot and the receipt. Aesthetic studies tell us that odd numbers are far more visually pleasing than even numbers, and I'd say two is probably the worst even number you could deal with. If your eye isn't already led off the page because of the previously mentioned direction, then it's playing ping-pong, bouncing between these two objects.
But what about that elephant?
Critique the design elements by all means, but the purpose of a ad design is to communicate something desirable to potential buyers so they are motivated to act. The elephant in the room here is none of these say anything or motivate anything.
Design elements have no value unless they get the client's message across in the right way to the right audience, no matter how well done they are. That, after all, is what the designer is being paid for. The purpose of advertising, Sergio Zyman says quite rightly, is to sell more stuff to more people. I can't see where any of these vital tasks has been accomplished.