Blog post 7: Research into existing TV commercials in other forms (eg online, print, billboard)

I did this research in order to get more ideas for branding and other design ideas, as the idea of branding and graphic design in adverts is most prominent in print or other non moving advert forms as they take up a lot more of the readers attention. I found these adverts through google images as well as pictures I took myself.

All print adverts seem to have a focus on having a catchy tagline, subtitle or ad copy. This is done to engage the reader and put forward things such as humour or intertextuality despite having no dialogue, special effects or music to do so. This means that these must carry the message of the advert extremely effectively and concisely. However the use of colour and focal image is also a priority with this being the only thing that can be added to the poster to make it stand out other than text. This means graphic design is much more important as there are no moving images or other parts to take the readers attention. I thought the Just Eat 'still having a job after doing "that thing" at the Christmas party' ad was very effective in showing this concept. The ad copy is purposefully ambiguous to allow the reader to come up with their own possible idea of what it was that happened and so the advert is able to communicate an inappropriate idea of what they may have done without being explicit about it. This is helped by the shocked looks on the faces of those in the advert who are all looking at something off screen, to again allow the audience to fill in their own interpretation of what happened. The use of colour also shines through in this ad with the consistent red colour scheme clearly being used to create branding and show that this is a Just Eat advert.

The print adverts I found

The interesting conventions for still adverts are useful especially with intertitles and end cards which are effectively stationary adverts within a moving one. However the focus on design and slogans will be helpful overall when it comes to working on both branding, slogans and general dialogue of my adverts.