Introduction
I get promotional emails all the time from companies such as Old Navy. I don’t know who the artist is, but I did learn that Old Navy has been in the process of shifting focus back to building its brand (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/22/old-navy-was-neglecting-brand-marketing-gap-cfo-admits.html). The original ad can be found here: click here. I chose the above ad campaign because it was timely and it demonstrated all the elements discussed in this week’s learning:
- Contrast
- Repetition
- Alignment
- Proximity
- Color
Contrast
Above is an example of contrast. We see the use of a dark background with white lettering to show the sale prices. There is also the opposite with a white background and red and black lettering to show the dates and locations of the sale.
Repetition
The above example shows repetition at work in the ad campaign. We see repeated use of the color navy blue as well as the basic block style font to create unity and continuity throughout the ad. I will also note that the designer reserved the use of red and a curvy font type for only one place to show contrast and draw the eye upward to the “today only” text.
Alignment
There are at least two uses of alignment in this ad. The yellow bars indicate the alignment between the background and the text below and also the smaller yellow bar shows the alignment in the text at the top of the page.
Proximity
Proximity shows the viewer that these elements are related and should be categorized together. You will see there are there are three different blocks showing elements of proximity in this ad. The first is the text at the top of the page, showing when and where the sale applies. The second is a block showing what’s on sale and the price. The third block shows important instructions for buying online and store pick-up information. All of these are examples of proximity.
Color
Here we see an effective use of color. The signature “navy” blue is used in multiple places to create repetition starting with the girl’s sweater, the background in the sale prices, and also in the instructions below. We also see the red in the header is used to create contrast that draws the eye upward to the important information that this sales apples to “today only.”
Conclusion
All the basic principles of design that we studied this week are present in this add. These principles include contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity, and color. All these elements combined help to create an ad campaign that is easy to understand, makes it’s information clear, and pleasant to the visual senses of the viewers.
Amanda Olson 