Diamond Coffee

Diamond Coffee is an Asian based product, which is usually aimed at the working class market. The following created this particular advert:

Executive Creative Director: Connie Lo


Creative Director: Nutchanun Chiaphanumas


Art Director: Nateepat Jaturonrasmi


Copywriter: Spring Liu/Nutchanun Chiaphanumas


Illustrator: Remix Studio Bangkok


Photographer: Nok Pipattungkul

The poster is mainly constructed around a photograph, sourced via internet, made in 2011.

The theme of this poster seems to be based on the struggles of working class life. I think the artists main intentions in the piece was to inform the public the difficulties in the daily routine rush, if possible to spare some time for the coffee, it would help you with the work load.

The messages being communicated are that Diamond Coffee is the solution to all problems, in a stressful day-to-day struggle. This is conveyed through the photograph of a lot of people on the man’s shoulders, referring to the common saying “weight on my shoulders” relating back to the main theme of stress. I believe that the intended function is to promote Diamond Coffee as a stress reliever. 

The layout of the poster has a strong influence in the marketing of the product, in how both the photograph of the man with people on his shoulders and the product in the corner with the slogan above it are separately isolated in order to relate to the audience. The background is both dull and blank to focus attention on the reference back to the man function.

The formal element of text has been used effectively, in order to create a sense of imagery for the audience to relate to, improving their marketing techniques. In terms of media and processes the poster focuses highly on photography and editing with the use of the Photo shop program. This improves the adverts effect on the audience giving them a playful visual image to relate to. This advert was most definitely made at a time where the coffee industry was being neglected and people weren’t as appreciative of the effect it had on the day-to-day performance. 

Ian Wright

New York based artist Ian Wright is one of the industry’s best loved and most prolific figures. His work has spanned four decades, including numerous high-profile editorials and record sleeves for the likes of The Face, The NME, Issey Miyake, Bjork, Ian Brown and many others. Ian Wright takes pleasure in making portraits and is hugely influenced by music. Ian Wright’s creative approach to illustration has resulted in a fresh and constant updating of his work into new creative directions, including experimenting with new developments in technology and mixing up techniques and materials whilst creating unique artistic visions.

The theme of this inventive art piece focuses on mystery. The simplicity of the image gives the design its mystery effect. Not only is the theme communicated to the audience further, through how the image is presented in an informal manner but also through slogan that the work features. ‘If you could do anything tomorrow what would it be?’ I think the slogan would definitely make the audience think and look at the art piece further as it’s very engaging and it makes them feel more involved, which I also believe was the artist’s intentions. It’s evident to say that the presentation is incredibly chaotic and very disordered yet effective. This technique is quite distracting as well as fascinating; the unclearness of the art piece almost motivates the audience to want to solve the meaning behind the work. I noticed how in his art piece the word ‘Tomorrow’ appears to be rather undefined; this was to perhaps strengthen the mystery theme further which I thought was a creative and an interesting technique to include. The colours used in this piece of work are mainly red and white which both work well together. The white is conveyed through the use of typography which is quite suitable as the font is reasonably plain and straightforward yet presents a fresh clean effect to the art work. The use of red portrayed as the background colour is an appropriate choice as not only does it stand out better but red can be effect the audience to STOP almost instantly which I believe was the artists intention. The layout and design of the art piece is uncomplicated which makes it more memorable easily recognisable to the audience.

Robert Brownjohn

Robert Brownjohn (1925 – 1970) was a graphic designer. His combination of typography, illustration and objects made him an iconic designer in 1950s New York and 1960s London. He has designed titles for James Bond films, graphics for the Robert Fraser Gallery and artwork for the Rolling Stones. A lot of his inspiration came form sixties pop culture.

The illustration to the right is an example of a piece of work from Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar (BCG). These three artists collaborated to create many commissioned pieces of art for various clients. Much of their work was extremely simple, but just as effective. It was perhaps their simplicity that made them all the more intriguing. The illustration to the right is part of a booklet called ‘Watching Words Move (1959)’ and is extremely fascinating. By using only the top half of the word ‘top’, BCG have given meaning to the word they are portraying and have shown wit in they’re interpretation. More examples of this type of his work are shown to the left.

However, Brownjohn not only explored uncomplicated illustrations. One of his more famous pieces of work would be the title he created for the James Bond film, as shown below. The way in which the words ‘From Russia with Love’ are distortedly written is effective in portraying a mysterious or sinister atmosphere. This was most probably Brownjohn’s aim as James Bond films are thrilling in essence. This more complicated illustration gives us more insight to the typographical talents of Robert Brownjohn. He became sought after for both his simple and intricate means of portraying a message using wit, and is now imprinted into the history of prominent graphic artists.

Tim Mars

Tim Marrs is a BA graduate and Master of Arts. He is widely known for his use of photography, screen printing and photoshop techniques. The inspiration and influence for his work originates from American pop culture, pulp fiction novels, pop art and even polish film posters. His adaptable technique has attracted many clients from advertising, publishing and Graphic design. These include, but are not limited to Nike, Brand Jordan, Asics NYC marathon, Reebok, kswiss, Ogilvy and Mather, Saatchi and Saatchi, Geffen records, Publicis & Hal Riney and orion publishing.

The image on the right is an example of Marrs’ work. It was part of the ad campaign for a Virgin Megastore store opening in Manchester. His mix of drawing, photography, print and digital technique in this advertisement is a prime example of his talent and shows Marrs’ style clearly.

The use of text is key for this piece of his work as it is informative to potential customers. However, instead of just placing the text in a clear and acceptable manner, Marrs has portrayed the information in an imaginative and unique way. The effect of placing the words in such a way that they seem to have been stamped onto the poster, give it an air of authenticity. This idea of realism is supported by the different shades of yellow which provide a worn out look. On the other hand, the image of various digital and musical appliances portrayed in a shape which largely resembles a creature of some sort, hugely contrasts the perhaps normal and real representation that the font and colour of the advertisement may have given.

This is exactly the style of Tim Marrs; he plays on what people view as authentic and combines this, digitally, with his own ideas and illustrations. Much of his work uses a slight faded or smudged effect, trying to emulate legitimacy, but is vastly contrasted by a unique and imaginative edge.

The Adiddas Original advert

The Adiddas Original advert, ‘The Street Where Originality Lives’ was created by the Adidas brand. This advert has been televised, created with use of filming techniques. I chose this advert because it was relevant to the current work I am studying in my graphics course.

I think the main theme being translated through the clip is that Adidas is more then just a trainer it is a solution to hatred. I believe the artist’s intention was to convey the brand as fun and diverse to all races and styles, appealing to more of a youthful targeted market. The key messages being communicated in the advert is that Adiddas as a brand is in touch with the modern expression of originality, creating an alteration in the perception of the brand to the audience. The intended function of the advert is to promote Adiddas as a newly reformed social brand.

The layout and structure of the advert is mainly based in the street and rooftops of buildings. The advert includes a lot of colours in it, insinuating a diversification of characters and styles. The inclusion of young people, confirms the main targeted market in the advert. The formal element, being the opening title, sets the scene for the rest of the advert making it more inspirational.

The media & processes included in this advert simply involve, precise filming techniques, capturing the fun in every scene, encapsulating the theme of the advert. The artist has managed to use a variation both close up and bird’s eye views to communicate the enthusiastic expressive theme. This advert was made at time where Adiddas were trying to diversify their customers by promoting new styles and expressive understanding brand. 

Pioneer

Pioneer has introduced the KURO television with an unusual campaign which promotes the body’s ability for multi-sensory skill. The advert was produced by lee clow and was released at 2008. Lee clow is currently the chairman and global Director of TBWA/worldwide and was formally its chief creative officer. The Advertising Age referred him as the "advertising's art director guru". In this campaign Nadav was the photographer and Becca Morton as the Art director.

The advert features an image of what seems to appear as a hand with five ears on the finger tips alongside an eye placed at the center of the palm the advert completes its final look with a slogan which is seen at the top of the image; ‘seeing and hearing like never before’. The unique slogan was created by Gage Clegg. This advert has various interpretation portrayed to it. The almost obvious would be the illuminati (free mason) due to the eye suggestion. The image of the hand can also be referred to the story of ‘Hamsa’ as it was believed that his right hand stopped all the Seeing Eye. This may have been one of his influences to when creating his pioneer advert. The use of the ‘hand image’ could very much be seen as a STOP hand gesture. This technique is reasonably useful as it may have helped appeal to the audience better as well as resulted them to stop. on the other hand the positioning of the eye and ears is quite bizarre however it complements the slogan well which I believe was a good and successful technique to incorporate. This particular advert is known as ‘shock advertising’ which was reasonably popular at the time. It is clear that Lee Clow did his research well as well as considered all the significant aspects to include in his campaign.

The main colours used in the advert are black and white, which assist into giving the advert a more classic, dark and serious look as well as it also adds a professional appeal to it making it seem more reliable to its audience. The black and white can also give the advert a more gothic outlook therefore promotes an aggressive theme which outlines a mystery effect.

There are various processes and techniques that took part into making this advert. One of them being photo montage, where in this case black and white photographs were taken and layered over each other using Photoshop to create the eye in the palm. Effective use of lighting on the hand may had been applied in Photoshop.

Jenny Tran

Jenny Tran is a female cultural artist, who focuses on the deeper meanings of societies, creating work that influences social movements. An example of her inspirational work is the ‘Fabric of America’ piece.

In this piece, it’s initially an image of the American flag but with further analysis it becomes more apparent that patriotism is not the main idea. The image is made distorted with a scratch like effect on the flag base, disfiguring the original patriotic flag creating the idea rebellion, chaos and manic in the American society.  

This artwork translates various messages through certain aspects and features it holds. The scratch effect is not just a design element, but in fact quotes, found on random anonymous terrorist sites. The use of this aggressive design conveys Jennifer’s passion to let the public know about the major faults the American society holds, threatening the existing society.

The text imprinted in the artwork, “INTOLERANCE DESTROYS THE FABRIC OF AMERICA”, reveals another of Jennifer’s messages, linking with the terrorist quotes. She uses references between her design and text. An example of this is shown through the scratch effect on the fabric of the American flag, similarly related to the statement “destroys the fabric of America”. Jenny also tries to communicate a general message to her audience saying, if you try to go against each other it will “destroy the fabric” of reality as a nation.

Various techniques in media are used in this piece, one of them being photography in terms of the American flag. Another is the illustrative research where text is distorted and placed in different directions and positions (layered over images) using the Illustrator/Photoshop program.

This piece seems like it was made at a time of social chaos and manic in the American society. It could have been made near the times of 9/11, where terrorism was a major issue within the society, affecting the nation as a whole. I chose this artwork because it seemed to have an in depth design to it, communicating that there was more to it then met the eye. Moreover I had to include it in my blog for my Graphic design studies.