ITAP-4

For this section I will be looking at 2 key principals that were brought up during the lecture these two points are Understanding the target audience and inspiration.

So first off I’ll be looking at target audience. It’s important for the visual creative/designer to have a thorough understanding of the target audience, this is because when armed with knowledge on a target audience it gives the designer the ability to successfully solve the creative task at hand as solving the task is to satisfy the intended target audience. And I say “intended target audience” because It’s near impossible to simply target anyone so a target audience is created specifically to a certain group of people based on age, gender, interests etc.

A keen understanding of target audience Is paramount as it ultimately affects the look and feel of the final outcome/product in terms of aesthetics and content. The main objective of advertising is to persuade your target audience to buy a certain product which is achieved by attracting them with the setting, photos, illustrations, colour etc. take this male fragrance advertisement for example.

As you can see its clearly aimed at a male audience because of the use of a male actor and the lack of colour it is also interesting to note that the fragrance bottle is one of the few things that is displayed in colour, perhaps to further illustrate that it is the desirable product as it stands out quite clearly against the black and white background that has been used here.

Again using male fragrance ads as an example I chose to look at the video/tv campaign for the fragrance. This appeals to its male audience firstly and obviously through the use of a male actor and also the use of or rather the lack of colour that is used throughout the video clip. this masculine audience is further communicated with through the symbols that are used, such as wealth, power, women, cars gambling etc. even the name of the fragrance is used to further reiterate this idea of ”wealth” and “power” .Another thing to note is that when the actor clicks his fingers he gets whatever he wants instantaneously which links to power, wealth and the idea of the instant accessibility of desires .

The next key feature I will be looking at is inspiration, now for me personally as a visual communicator I have found that research into different genres/styles such as vintage tattoo flash, comic book art graffiti, fine art, illustration and manga art etc. and by following the work of other artists, this has given me a large source of inspiration for me to pull ideas from and I’ve managed to find merit in all branches of visual communication. I have found this useful  because by looking at other peoples work It gets you thinking of ways in which you can improve your own practice.

Here are is a look at the work of illustrator Alex Pardee 

 Here we can see that he has taken inspiration from the film and graphic novel “watchmen” to create his own illustration. In an interview Alex says this about his inspiration. “Recently I think my inspiration has changed drastically. Visually I absorb anything and everything shiny. Movies, shitty TV, the internet, friends, taking walks, people watching, etc. I do get a lot of my inspiration from pop culture, whether it shows in my work or not. Pop culture, just in general, sparks things in me constantly.”