Striking Visuals and Creativity

Posted on by Helena Battipaglia

According to the website sjinsights.net, studies have proven that the average person can see between 3,000 to 20,000 marketing messages per day. However, only a handful of ads have the ability to capture our attention, keep us wondering, or evoke some sort of emotion in us. For me, ads that contain striking visuals, or promote message get my attention best. Below, I’ll go into some further detail about great visual advertisements with bold colors and creativity. Some examples of advertisements and messages I see quite often are also included.  They convince me a product is something I need, or inspire me.

Whenever I see an ad with bold, bright colors, it makes me stop for a second to process what exactly the picture or message is suggesting. I notice that I will easily bypass a boring or dull image because it doesn’t interest me. I decided to look a little more into the science of this. According to visualimpactsystems.com, advertisers and marketers choose certain colors to evoke different emotions in us. This can even be subliminal! For instance, food franchises such as McDonalds and Pizza Hut often use the color red in their advertisements, as this color is known to stimulate appetite (visual impact systems 1). For me personally, ads that contain really bright colors like yellow get my attention best. For example, I saw this ad by a protein supplement company a lot during the summer as I took the subway to work each day. There are obviously so many advertisements and ads in New York City, but I always noticed this one because of the bright yellow’s contrast with the darker grey. It always seemed to catch my eye.

Additionally, an ad that is creative will not only capture my attention, but it will make me stop and think on a deeper level. Like most people, I always take an extra second to examine things I’m not accustomed to seeing. For example, I came across this Black and White coffee ad not long ago.

http://thoughtsofaserialthinker.tumblr.com/post/15504639420/print-white-and-black-coffee-this-ad-makes-me

I just thought it was so interesting how the company went about creating this picture; the contrasting colors, the shapes and the use of actual people. Clearly this picture, (which really looks like a piece of abstract art) is not something one would typically see – especially for a coffee advertisement! This photo was what encouraged me to look up the company to see what it was all about.

I also decided to look up some cool ads just to explore what else is out there. I was particularly impressed with this ad by the Australia post – a postal service in Australia.

The picture is so different, and it actually makes me want to start sending more hand written notes to people! I think this postal service was smart in making an ad like this that really stands out, considering the fact that we are living in the digital age. There’s no doubt sending letters through the mail is on its way out soon, so of course it is in the postal service’s best interest to start getting creative! I think this one in particular certainly did.

An ad that sends an impactful message is one that especially catches my attention.  A bright colored ad can catch the eye of anyone, but marketing your product in a way that influences people and makes them feel something is taking it to the next level. For example, I have always believed Calvin Klein is great at doing this. Their ads make me feel as though I need their clothing! Whether it is the company’s use of famous celebrities, or its frequent use of black and white glamorous images, its ads make me feel as though the clothing will enhance my wardrobe and confidence in some way! In reality, this probably isn’t true, but the fact that the company’s ads make me feel this way is a clear sign it’s doing something right. I even started following them on all the social media platforms I’m on, mainly to just get a glimpse of its picture advertisements. I’ve even noticed that the clothing that’s most advertised is in fact largely sold out on its website. It just goes to show I’m not the only one this company is influencing through its advertisements!

Lastly, although music artist and fashion designer Kanye West isn’t a company in himself, I think he markets himself extremely well, especially through social media. He captures my attention a lot because he actually does not tweet often, unless he has something really important or powerful to say (sometimes it’s outlandish, but regardless, he makes people listen!) In this case, his infrequent social media use behooves him.   My favorite tweets of his are ones that are inspirational and moving, just like the ones pasted below. At times, Kanye tweets messages out like this one after the other in a very short time span.  I also think this is a good tactic. People notice this, and are more inclined to read what you’re saying if it’s in their face. Of course this can also be annoying to followers. However, if you’re in the public eye and have something meaningful to say, it could also be a great tool to get followers’ attention.  His urgency is definitely impactful to me.

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