Post #45: Directive: Review- Scrapbook

Free scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

 

For this next post I wanted to reflect on how this semester has gone for me in this class. I used an application called Smilebox to create a digital scrapbook to showcase how my work has progressed.

Starting out the semester I was both excited and nervous about the class. I was excited because it was the start of a new semester and I would finally get my first taste of advertising. But, at the same time I was nervous because this was my first experience with creativity and art in several years and I was going to be surrounded by a class of ‘artsy’ students. I expected them all to have lots of experience and for their work to blow mine out of the water. However, as the semester progressed, I realized that the other students were not all that different from me. This was the first experience with advertising for the majority of the students and they were just as nervous as I was. I also began to surprise myself with how far I would push myself creatively. Using the brainstorming methods that we learned in class from Scott and Will, I pushed myself past my creative limits and came up with ideas that I was very proud of.

Besides getting better at pushing myself creatively, I also practiced and improved my skills with GIMP and Windows Movie Maker (to a lesser extent). I also learned to not take advertising so literally. Advertising doesn’t have to blatantly sell you a product and it certainly should never take itself seriously. Sometimes the best ads are those that don’t have the product “save the day” but those that instead use the product as an afterthought to a memorable advertisement.

At the beginning of the semester I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue majoring in Advertising, I was so frightened that I wouldn’t be able to compete with the real creative geniuses at our school and beyond. But now, with the skills that Scott and Will have taught me and the confidence that I have built in myself throughout the semester, I am extremely excited to be a part of the world of advertising.

Post #44: Directive: Rebellious: The Rebel’s Arsenal

 

So for this next post I decided to do some more research to figure what the symbols of teenage rebellion were since it first became popular in the 1950s.

Most of the information I gathered is from wikipedia.org. I decided to make a one page ad that showed the album, movie, shirt and pants that symbolizes the rebellion for each decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. I also included with each decade one or two symbols that each generation was known for.

Here they are in case you cannot read them:

1950s- “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger and a pack of cigarettes.

1960s- Weed and Flower Power

1970s- The burning of Vietnam draft cards

1980s- A piece of the Berlin Wall

1990s- Ecstasy

2000s- The Occupy Wall Street Movement (I know this technically did not start until 2011, but the teens of the 2000s weren’t famous for rebelling against much of anything).

 

Through my research I found out that each generation wore jeans, albeit in different fashions, but jeans nonetheless. Levi’s were still the most popular brand of jeans during the past 6 decades. My tagline is “Part of the Rebel’s Arsenal for 6 Generations and Counting.” I decided to use the word arsenal to describe the items placed within each generation because these items are the weapons the teens used to ‘fight the power’ with.

In my opinion, this is probably the best layout and photo-altering work that I have done to date and I owe part of that to our T.A. Jae who, earlier today, gave me some advice about how to do these things properly.

Post #43: Directive: Progressive: Progressively Invasive Ads

Definitions for the more obscure forms of advertising can be found at the bottom of this post.

  For this next post I decided to look at how invasive different forms of advertising are. I analyzed 26 different forms of advertising and placed them into one of three possible levels of invasion: minimum, moderate, or maximum.

All of the forms of advertising were sub-types of television, radio, or internet advertising, or a form of advertising that didn’t utilize one of those mediums.

These were my criteria for each level of invasion:

-Minimum invasion: Easily skimmed past or thrown away.

-Moderate invasion: Forms of advertising that require some effort to get past, or one’s that subconsciously affect the viewer.

-Maximum invasion: Forms of advertising that one must sit through all of the way, those consciously sought out by a viewer, or those that trick the viewer into a prolonged exposure to the ad.

I researched which forms Levi’s uses most to advertise their products and although they use ads that operate on all three of the levels, the majority of their ads are within the moderate level of invasion. This seems like the most intelligent level to advertise products because products advertised on this level are neither easily avoided, nor annoyingly invasive.

Definitions:

-Banner Ads: Ads that can be found at the top or sides of an web page.

-Display ads: Ads that are placed in newspapers beside, or sometimes within, a news article.

-DJ Driven Adverts: Radio advertisements that are presented by the station’s DJ, usually implying that the advertised product is the DJ’s preference.

-Pre-Video Adverts: Internet advertisements that play before a video, usually on Youtube.

-Enclosed mail adverts: Advertisements that are sent in envelopes through snail mail; can sometimes confuse one to think that it is regular mail.

-Canvassers: Door-to-door salesmen.

Post #42: Directive: Democratic: State of the Union

It’s time for me to start focusing on my strengths, or at least what I enjoy doing the most. I will be focusing predominantly on writing and research driven posts.

I came up with this next idea after reading an article that said that 83% of the viewers who watched President Obama’s State of the Union address, approved it. This made me think, what makes Obama’s speeches get such high approval ratings? He is known for his enthralling speeches so I decided to figure out if he (or his speech writer) uses any sort of formula for his speeches.

The Daily Beast’s article “Write-Your-Own Obama Speech” researched several of Obama’s speeches from as far back as 2004 and as recent as 2009 and found several common features that make up any Obama speech. Here they are:

1. Thanks for having me.

2. Express shock that someone with your life story could ever stand before such a crowd…

3. …But that’s just America for you.

4. Pause for audience interruption.

5. Have gracious comeback ready.

6. Pay homage to Founding Fathers and/or quote the Declaration of Independence.

7. Express regret at America’s failure to live up to its founding principles.

8. Both sides have a point

a. On the one hand…..

b. But on the other hand….

9. Dismiss traditional battle lines as insufficiently nuanced. Find common ground.

10. After all, just look at me.

11. Manage expectations.

12. That said, don’t be afraid to dream big.

13. Invoke God.

(http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/06/04/write-your-own-obama-speech.html)

As important as the words are to his speech, the way he presents them is equally important, so I’ve decided to present this speech in video form.

All of the information I stated in the video is true.

Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless America.

Post #41: Directive: Quixotic- The Lady Dulcinea

This week I was faced with the reality that I had two quixotic posts left to do and I had already run out of ideas. So I did some research on Don Quixote to see if anything in the story could give me some inspiration. Fortunately, I think I have found my muse.

The Lady Dulcinea.

Dulcinea del Toboso is the name and identity that Don Quixote gives Aldonza Lorenzo, a local peasant girl. He creates this imaginary back story for her:

“… her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her; for her hairs are gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow, and what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare.” [Volume 1/Chapter XIII] (Wikipedia)

This made me think of a modern version of this girl. Many people have that one amazingly attractive person they see everywhere, and who they have a playful crush on even though they don’t know anything about them. For example, if you take the subway to work every day then there might be that one girl who rides the same train as you and with whom you make flirty glances at. If you are a hopeless romantic like Quixote was then you may even build a back story for this girl and put her on a pedestal.

This is the direction that I would like to take for my next post.

Post #40: Review: At the Movies with Ebert & Granum

I’ve noticed after watching Levi’s commercials over the years that they tend to have a very cinematic feel to them. They don’t sell their product like most other companies do because it is sort of used as an accessory in the commercial’s story, instead of it being their main attraction.

For this next post I watched 3 vastly different Levi’s commercials and reviewed them based on the SRV Journal’s guidelines for movie reviews.

The first commercial I watched was Levi’s “Shaggy Boombastic” commercial:

I’ve got to say that I was completely surprised when I first saw this commercial. I had no idea that Levi’s did a claymation commercial. It seems very out of the ordinary compared to the type of commercials that they are known for today. I couldn’t find any information about the commercial’s director or any of the voice actors, but I do know that this commercial is partially responsible for making Shaggy’s song “Mr. Boombastic” so popular.

I enjoyed the fact that the commercial told a full story, something many commercials don’t do. I also liked how funny it was, even without the use of words. The quality of the animation was a little off-putting for me, but this commercial was made in 1995. However, the story wasn’t very original and that took away from it’s appeal.

The commercial does a good job of showing off the Levi’s product and it showcases the product’s strength in an interesting way as well.

Grade: B

The next commercial I watched was one of Levi’s more famous commercials, released in 1995.

The commercial as directed by famed music video and movie director, Michel Gondry. He is probably most well-known for directing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and more recently, “The Green Hornet”.

I thoroughly enjoyed this commercial. It turned a fairly mundane task (buying condoms) into a hilarious little story. I like how the commercial is shot from an odd point of view where the main character’s face is obscured for the majority of the time and how it looks like it could have been made in the earlier half of the 20th century. I really enjoyed the funny twist at the end as well.

The commercial was banned in America because it showed the main character purchasing condoms, but it still went on to win several awards.

Grade: A

The last commercial I reviewed was Levi’s most recent commercial which is a part of their “Go Forth” campaign.

This was my least favorite of all of the commercials. Yes, it was pretty to look at, and yes, it had some ‘inspiring’ words being spoken in the background, but it really just didn’t do it for me. The commercial lacked a story and seemed to take itself too seriously. It featured several ‘free’ and ‘rebellious’ young men and women, including what can be assumed to be a couple of Occupy Wall Street protesters. That part really aggravated me. I did not like the fact that a multi-billion dollar company was using the OWS protesters’ likenesses to sell their product, especially since Levi’s has done nothing to give back to the movement. There was no particular feature of the jeans beng featured here as well.

I really hate the “Go Forth” campaign. Levi’s advertising just needs to go back to being funny like it was in the 90s and it should definitely stop taking itself so seriously as well.

Grade: D+

Post #39: Directive: Brave: The Ascending Arcuate

This weekend while I was researching Levi’s I found out that there is a name for the pocket stitching that Levi’s has become famous for. It’s called the arcuate pattern.

According to Levisguide.com, the pattern first started appearing on Levi’s jeans in 1873, the same year that the company patented their signature rivet.

More from levisguide.com:

Era: 1873 ~ 1886 period
The arcuate on Levis 125 model in 1873 were stitched in straight alignment. The 6 stitches per inch technique were used.

Era: 1890 ~ 1928 period
The ” Jacob ” arcuate were aligned more to the right. The ” wing ” on the right side is higher too.

Era: 1942 ~ 1944 period
During the World War II period, changes are made in order to conform to rules set by the War Production Board for the conservation of raw materials.  The Arcuate stitching design is removed as the thread was solely for decorative purposes only and not vital to the usefulness of the garment. In order to keep the design on the pants, LS&CO. sewing machine operators painted the arcuate in orange on each pair.  A pair of Levi’s without  any noticable sign of arcuate is usually from this peroid.  A pair  in pristine condition with the paint still attached are quite valuable and can fetch thousands of dollars from ebay or a collector.

Era: Mid 1950s ~ present period.
Double needle machines were used to stitch the Arcuate design, resulting in the “diamond” effect and rendering each Arcuate identical. In the 60’s, Levis changes stitching technique from 6 stitches per inch to 12 stitches per inch.

The word ‘arcuate’ means “shaped like a bow” and this was the inspiration for my next post.

I knew the whole time that i wanted to make a bow and arrow out of the arcuate pattern but I did not know what I wanted to do with it. After I completed a base drawing and I had the arrow pointing upwards I thought to myself, “what could it be shooting at?” It would have to be something on the back so I thought of a tramp stamp.

Most girls get tramp stamps while they’re young and almost immediately regret it. My thought for this ad is that if you were to make such a horrible mistake, Levi’s would be there to help you out. The arrow is flying from the bow shaped design on the woman’s jeans up at the tattoo with the intent of destroying it.

Post #38: Directive: Quixotic- I’m Going to a Picnic and I’m Bringing…….

I’m a huge fan of car games. I usually do 4 or 5 big car trips every year and they are an excellent way to pass the time. My most recent long trip was when I went down to Barnesville, Georgia for Thanksgiving. It’s a 13 hour drive and with most of the trip being spent driving on I-95, it’s decidedly un-scenic and car games help to break the monotony. To help pass the time, my brother suggested that we play “the picnic game”.

Here are the rules for the picnic game:

-The first person to go must say “I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing (an object or person that begins with an ‘a’).”

-Then the next person must say “I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing (whatever the first person brought) and (an object or person that begins with a ‘b’).”

-This goes on and on until you make your way through all 26 letters of the alphabet.

-If you cannot remember all of the objects brought before you or if you cannot name a new object, then you are eliminated.

Tip: If you are devious and kind of a dick like me than you will come up with fairly complicated things to bring like “Arthur the Aardvark’s Agoraphobic Aunt” because they are really hard to remember.

 

The whole game really forces you to stretch your creative mind and it always provides a good laugh to see what types of things people come up with.

For some reason the randomness and creativity of the game connected to quixotic to me.

I will now try to play the game while only being able to use objects that relate to Levi’s or, if I’m in a really tough bind, jeans in general.

Here it goes:

I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing….

A: An apple made out of Levi’s

B: A bootylicious boot-cut pair of blue jeans

C: A cheeky Caucasian rocking the classic fit

D: The original Denim Distributor

E: An ensemble for the eclectic everyman

F: Flattering fabric for even the fattest female

G: Gold miners in need of groovy garments

H: (this is starting to get really hard) Hardy hand-me-downs worn during the Harding administration

I: Ideals imbued into the American culture

J: James Dean’s jeans and jacket

K: Kevlar, Levi’s kindred knitwear

L: Levi Strauss, the man, the legend, the Kraut

M: Moist models marinated in menthol

N: Next-to-Nirvanic Comfort

O: Occidental offerings obedient to their owners

P: Pants prohibited from being pleated

Q: Quads covered by quirky cloth

R: Rivets rocked by the Ramones

S: Sexy leg-sleeves, stitched with sensuality

T: Textiles that transcend time

U: Unrivaled unisex uniforms

V: Vouched for by video vixens and Vogue

W: Workwear worn by women and woodsmen

X: Xerox and Xylophone (that is all)

Y: Yearned for by yesterday’s youth

Z: Zaps Zeroes into Zealots with Zest

 

Holy crap that was hard! Definitely strained me creatively but I’m happy with some of the things I came up with. I like the ones that I came up with for E, M, O, T, and Y.

 

Post #37: Directive: Seductive- Lip Service

I came up with this next post after thinking about what a woman does to seduce a man. I thought about how when a woman really wants to snag a man, she puts on her best shade of lipstick. That brought me to this idea: A woman wearing Levi’s lipstick.

This ad could be used in two ways. If Levi’s was coming out with a new color for the jeans they could showcase it on the woman’s lips. Also the ad could be used to remind people that Levi’s are always in style and always sexy.

To create the ad I started by choosing a picture from the Creative Commons. I then used GIMP, a photo manipulation program, to add the Levi’s lips. I used a picture I took of the denim fabric of my Levi’s to create the majority of the lips. I then used a picture of the hem of my pants to create the border of the lips. I then added a gray shade on top of the entire picture, excluding the lips. This was done to make the denim shade pop.

Post #36: Directive: Seductive- Shakespearean Sonnets

I have mixed feelings about poetry. When I was younger I loved writing poems for class and I thought that I was quite good at it. Then, in 10th grade,  I was assigned to write a Shakespearean sonnet for my English class. I did and I was very proud of what I came up with, so I decided to post the poem to poetry.com. About two weeks later, I received a letter from the website stating that they loved my poem so much that they wanted to publish it in their upcoming poetry anthology. They requested that I buy the anthology and tickets for a yearly convention they held in New York. My parents were skeptical but tried to humor me, nevertheless. Fortunately they were intelligent enough to research the anthology and convention and they found out that I was not as special as I thought. Everyone who posted a poem to the website received the letter. Everyone was going to be published.

That event ended up spoiling poetry for me for a couple of years and now I will have the chance to redeem myself by writing a Shakespearean sonnet all over again, this time about a pair of Levi’s.

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets in all and each one followed a specific criteria.

-Three quatrains (four lines) followed by a rhyming couplet (two lines)

-Quatrains followed this pattern (a-b-a-b) (c-d-c-d) (e-f-e-f)

-The rhyming couplet followed this pattern (g-g)

Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets were essentially love letters, although some showed more despair and bleakness than love. I think if a man wanted to seduce someone than writing them a sonnet would be one of the more romantic options. The sonnets are personalized and most use beautiful imagery to describe the object of the man’s affection.

The following sonnet is my attempt at showing my affection for my Levi’s:

Life with you is as easy as it comes,

You offer no struggle when I want you close,

We stick together like teeth and gums,

You are as much a part of me as my fingers and toes.

 

You cannot offer me silver or gold,

So instead you offer me your brass,

A gift like that is much more bold,

Exchanging a part of you to let our souls amass.

 

I long for the day when you become threadbare,

I will never force you to hide your years,

That doesn’t mean that I’ll ignore your welfare,

One’s true selflessness is shown through their rips and tears.

 

Our bond is silent without commotion,

Thankfully you needn’t be loud to show your devotion.

It feels weird expressing my feelings for my Levi’s in such a romantic way, but I like it. It’s comforting to know that if I ever need to seduce an inanimate object, I will have had practice.