Induction Task

We were given an induction task this included planning, creating and then analysing our own fragrance or mobile phone adverts. Certain necessities of this task will aid me greatly in my magazine cover making, I had to take my own photographs and edit them the way I chose. I did this on Photoshop which gave me a wide range of editting tools. I also had to take into consideration the colours I used, this will help me with my Magazine design too because colours are a huge representer of attitude and professionalism.
This is my final version of my advert.
Here is my evaluation...

Evaluation

To begin this advert I brainstormed ideas about what I wanted my advert to look like and what sort of appeal I wanted it to have. I decided on a male fragrance which is obviously aimed at males but also could be aimed at females because they may want to buy the fragrance for ‘their’ men. I went through many ideas about the advert itself for example the brand name, and the picture. I went through quite a few stages before deciding my final piece. My first idea was to have the fragrance like a warriors scent, with a picture of a warrior type figure and the slogan “be a warrior” I felt it was a bit ‘cheesy’ and opted out. I then went on to find that after having a photo shoot with my model that my advert changed dramatically. Whilst still being a male fragrance advert the message, of sexuality and lust, became one of nature and freedom.

The language used in the advert varies from a very familiar and well known term “man’s best friend” to a foreign word “cumhran” meaning ‘perfume’ in Gaelic. The familiar phrase helps the consumer feel at ease with the product and the foreign term puts across as the connotation of mystery. As a deeper meaning to the language of the advert, it conveys friendliness because of the familiarity of the situation, in other words men have lived along side dogs in harmony and even befriended them for hundreds of years. An air of the wilderness is given with the grass which I made a very clear green, green being the colour of nature, also the open sky in front of the man and the dog portrays freedom. To contrast the wilderness side of the advert but to back up the familiarity point is to say how green represents safety as well as nature, saying therefore that man is at one with nature.

Institutions that fragrances are involved with are normally also brands of clothes and perhaps make-up too, therefore they have a name for the whole company so people will remember from which set up their product is from whether it be make up perfume or anything else from their line. The ‘brand name’ for my fragrance is “Celtic”. This goes with the sort of Gaelic theme running throughout the advert; this can be represented by the colours, silver-y grey for the name of the fragrance and dark green for the slogan, these colours are very Celtic colours. This can be represented by the dog as well as the colours. The dog is a Border Collie well known in Gaelic history for being the working dog in the highlands of Ireland and Scotland, this is a connotation for the deeper meaning of the type of dog used in the advert.

This perfume has many obvious meanings with lots of hidden meanings within it. For example “man’s best friend” meaning the dog, dogs are loyal animals that have lived peacefully along side humans for years, but the other meaning is, that the perfume is supposed to be the man’s best friend, being loyal and going well with the man. A denotation of this advert is the grass, it obviously there to show the man and do are outside, but what does it represent? A connotation of it however is the following, the colour green represents, life and freshness, growth and money, all these things pass subconsciously on to the consumer, and they imagine all the good things they could get it they had this fragrance. Another denotation is the dog. The dog is sat by its master, loyal and friendly this is obvious, but the connotation behind this is how that makes the viewer feel is deeper. Man’s “best friend” is sat by his owner, freely, completely loose to run from his master and be completely free, but the dog stays by his owner and does not leave his side, this represents freedom and peacefulness, as if wearing the fragrance will grant you all of these things. Another point which supports all these ideas of freedom and peace is the blue sky, blue is a colour which represents, confidence and stability. These are great qualities to have as a man. The blue-y green of the bottle and the blue of the jeans also make a warm familiarity obvious. Blue also represents sincerity and affection. All these things you can get from a dog, but the deeper meaning in this advert is that you can get them from this fragrance. Even the dog holds some ideology in the sense of how it is sat, his ears are relaxed and he is sat waiting for a command from his master, all merely enjoying the tranquillity of the scene. Even in its colours the dog makes some bold but hidden points, for example. Black represents mystery an sophistication, this contrasts with the rest of the advert which entails many more warming inviting colours, but this creates the element of surprise which every man likes in his life. Black contrasts with the white, which represents purity and love, love of the owner from the dog? Or love of the fragrance from the man? The consumer decides. Another connotation of the image is the two longer pieces of grass, this could just be seen as nature, getting in the way or just an accident. It could also be seen as a connotation for something much deeper. This being the idea of secrecy, it is as though we are looking upon a scene which no one is supposed to see, the man and his dog just having a tranquil moment in the countryside, hidden by grass or rushes. One more connotation which can be pulled from this advert is the bottle in the corner. How I have placed the bottle affects the whole image. Sunshine is coming from the same place, perhaps giving off the impression that the fragrance is as good and powerful as the sun. Also the directions of the fragrance spray is falling in the same way as the sun there for could convey an element of heavenliness. 

I mentioned the audience briefly earlier and just to make it more clear the audience is young males as the brand gives an impression of power and freedom and loyalty. Cumhran could also be aimed at females though which imagine subconsciously perhaps that if they buy their man this fragrance they will become stable and loyal like his surroundings or even like his dog.
In my opinion this advert represents nature and freedom. Free choice and peacefulness spring to mind when I look at the advert. Whilst I was looking at the audience and how I wanted the advert to come across I looked at other adverts and the conventions they hold. For example the bottle is nearly always in the advert also there is usually some sexual language, so therefore I went against the usual conventions and used a more natural image which is more innocent.

I used photoshop to create my advert and I found it very helpful and fairly easy to use. I superimposed the image of the fragrance bottle, and I also superimposed the writing upon it, this was to make it look more natural. Only problem I had was selecting each individual strand of grass for seeing what colour changes looked like, but once I had chosen the colour I wanted it I kept it that way. I took a few different photographs and many weren’t quite what I was looking for.  For example I made some errors with some photos… like with the one below I tried to get the model and the dog to come over the hill at the same time but the dog came over too quickly and I missed the shot.

This is another example of a photo I thought I may use for my first idea, (warrior)

I think the ideal magazine for my advert is any cosmetic magazine as this puts the product out through a wide range of people. It would also fit in, in a clothes magazine, because it is a wide range fragrance.