final spoof

social media - mobile app

The title of this piece is T-Mo’bills spoof ad by Emily Wisser, and it was designed using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for January 31^st, 2012.

The method of this work is a print ad created for a magazine as well as a mobile application designed to connect T-Mo’bills users to each other. The specific subject is the T-Mobile telephone company spokesmodel featured in the print and television ads, and she wields a bill instead of the typical smart phone. The piece, which is geometric, effectively uses negative space to draw attention to the graphic elements, particularly the spokesmodel and the logo, both of which are recognizable traits of the T-Mobile brand. These recognizable elements help to strengthen the spoof ad and expand the audience; many people can recognize this design.

As the creator of the work, I bring my own personal experiences of dissatisfaction with T-Mobile. I have experienced many instances of frustration with this company over excessive and unnecessary bills as well as an inability to easily make changes to my account. I believe this is a universal feeling of frustration shared by others with cell phone companies in general. For instance, another student in the class chose to spoof ATT for their customer service. I felt inspired by her example because of my frustrating experiences with t-Mobile in the past, and I believe that it is a wide-spread feeling that extends the reach of the spoof ad to a larger audience.

The purpose of this ad was to mock T-Mobile and to draw attention to the fact that they overbill and have bad customer service in general. I think that the audience is any T-Mobile user who has experienced the negative customer service—I know there are several. Furthermore, the reach can extend to other cell phone services, as there are frequently problems occurring with such large companies. I think the strengths are the play on the title as well as the logo, but the weaknesses are that T-Mobile does not currently have a slogan to spoof.

LA Tan Final

SAlberiniProject1

Sebastian Alberini

Assignment 1 Essay

This is a spoof ad for the video game Battlefield 3. The project was created entirely in Photoshop, with heavy use of the mixing brush and layer adjustments. EA Games originally created the background (I adjusted the image slightly) in coordination with the original Battlefield 3 print ad. The title of the piece is “Battlewagon 3”.

The project was made in Photoshop and is intended as a print ad. The combination of a darkened background and cartoonish character design is intended to highlight upon the notion of this ad being a spoof; that is, because the ad is poking fun at certain gamers, the soldier is designed non photo-realistically, and his color scheme is at stark contrast with the greyed out background. I tried to create an even composition, with enough elements on the right side of the piece to counter-balance the heavily designed soldier.

I’m an avid gamer and love to keep up with the social media aspects of all games. On popular gaming websites and Facebook, it is quite apparent that there are countless gamers who hate the Call of Duty franchise, so much so that they began to love Battlefield 3, the game’s main competitor. More and more “haters” jumped on this bandwagon with no real reason; I believe in our society today, many are compelled to love certain things, or act like they do, simply out of hatred for something else. This ad is trying to convey this occurrence.

The designers of the original ad are incredibly skilled. The use of greyscale in coordination with a lightly colored background really creates an invigorating image for me. I tried to emulate this use of greyscale, but the use of an altered photo in the original as opposed to my hand-drawn approach shows its differences. Also, the use of color as a theme is incredibly effective in the original. The white text pops right off the page because of the muddy background, yet there is still interesting detail to be found in the tanks and other “war” objects in the background.

The sudden uprising of these Call of Duty “haters” sparked my interest in the subject and led me to create the vulgar, indifferent looking soldier. I feel that the pose and demeanor of the soldier accurately reflects that of the modern gamer, as online games create an environment that is crude, hateful, and hyper-aggressive. The overall design of the ad is aimed at appealing to the modern gamer, despite this being a spoof ad.

I think the ad can be viewed in a few ways. Certain gamers might actually look at the ad and agree, as if to say, “Yeah that’s exactly how I feel. Fuck Call of Duty.” Others, like me, who have noticed the ridiculous nature of a group of people loving a game solely out of dislike for another, might find the ad humorous and revealing.

I think the ad is mildly successful. The design could definitely use polish in terms of integrating the soldier more into the background, and I feel that the “ad” elements, like the console logos and the “3” at the end of the logo could definitely use some work. Still, I’m content with the result of the project.

Spoof Ad: Final w/Essay

This is an ad for the Apple product called iPhraud, a spoof off the already existing Apple product, iPhone. This ad was finalized on January 31, 2012 and was made using the combined effort of the Adobe programs Photoshop and Illustrator.

            The medium for this ad varies from the way it is shown. It can either be viewed digitally in the way it has been created, or in a hard copy version as in the magazine included. There is also an interactive campaign featured online on Apple’s iTunes store which features the product. I could imagine though, that a variety of ads can be created in the way Apple creates different ads for all its products. The specific subject of the ad is the product, or the iPhraud itself. This is evident as the ad remains very simple and plain, only featuring images of the phone accompanied by a small line of text and a larger headline. The ad overall has a very sleek look and strong composition. It is balanced through the placement of text and image. There is a hierarchy established through the size of the images and text as well. The viewer’s eye is initially drawn to either the lard headline featuring the name of the product or the actual image of the phone because these two parts are the largest and eye catching. The overall look of the ad is very typical of other Apple advertisements, which also helps the viewer in recognizing the product by just the style of the ad itself. I feel this  recognition is important as well as beneficial to advertisement design, which is another reason I chose to spoof an Apple product.

            This ad was inspired by a real life situation I encountered. Being a non smart phone user, in one day I encountered two separate events that made me realize the true prominence and popularity of not only smart phones, but the iPhone itself in our society. Not only was I the only one excluded from a smart phone survey in class, but I was also shocked to find out in the same day one of my last friend with a non smart phone had converted over to the iPhone. These events in turn made  me think about the potential reasons behind buying a product such as the iPhone. Do consumers purchase the phone for its features and capabilities, or for the sake of maintaining a certain public image? Is it a combination of both? These were questions that inspired the concept behind the iPhraud. I imagined a product called iPhraud which looks exactly like an iPhone, but only has the standard telephone capability to call. All of the fancy apps which even come standard on the iPhone have been removed for the iPhraud. I imagine this product catering to those who buy the iPhone for the sake of their image, rather then the phone itself. I myself as the creator are biased towards the situation, which I think in a way reflects in the absurdity of the concept itself.

            I also created a social media campaign which I imagine featured on the iTunes Store page. The idea behind this campaign is it is an interactive feature which allows users to vote on a new app availed for download to the iPhraud. The catch though,  is that all the potential apps are features which would already be available on standard cell phones. Examples of these apps include: clock, calendar, notes, calculator, etc.  This campaign again pokes fun of the products look vs features, and which  of these two is most important to consumers.

            In conclusion I am satisfied with the end product of the ad spoof project. I think I successfully crafted an ad and subsequent campaign that is effective yet still subtle. I would imagine this ad being widely understood, because it applies to the concepts of technology and conformity, which seems to be universal in our society today. 

Laryssa Borkowsky

apple paper ad

The title of this piece is "Apple Paper." It's a spoof ad created by Constantine Pitsilos using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for Febrary 2nd, 2012.

This is a print advertisement created for a publication such as Wired or MacWorld or any sort of magazine of the technology genre. To go along with the sort of campaigns Apple does, I made a store front using items made out of paper, in this case snowflakes, to show the realm of what is possible with their new product.

I use Apple products pretty much exclusively and have for years now. Regardless of my love for the company and their products, I feel as though their ads make their products seem almost godlike. Even though they don't always make many changes to their products, the new one is always described as something that hasn't been seen before.

The ad was meant to joke on this theme. The idea of paper, something we use everyday and we feel is endless is described here as a new, revolutionary product. For the alternate ad, I decided to go with an Apple Store display. Apple Stores have very fun, intricate displays for their new products. My idea was to have posters with different copy on them and hanging paper snowflakes. This goes along with my origami portion at the bottom of the ad. I used the tagline for the Cloud, "it just works" to keep with the company's theme.

Spoof Ad Final + Essay Alexandra Vitas

Social Media Alternative

            

           The campaign is entitled, Watch.com: a Spoof of Match.com. This campaign was created by Allie Vitas. Each piece is titled after the man in each respective ad; the names are as follows: BigDaddy, Mr RightNow, HoboStud69, and ToughGuy6. They were created on January 21, 2012. These ads were created digitally on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

            The ads are digital, but intended for print in magazine with a digital component—a Facebook page that acts as an ad for Watch.com. The copy is in Bell Gothic STD. The green is #99cc33; the blue #22567d. The specific subject is the mug shot that acts as a headshot. Secondary subjects include their quotes and names. The images are in black in white and contrasted with Match.com’s green and teal coloring. They have an image-driven composition to catch the viewers attention. However, the type is important in this piece as it is what adds an extra dimension of hilarity and depth to the spoof. The compositions are clean and simple with limited color to provide emphasis. The advertisements, although asymmetrical, are visually balanced with the main image on the left hand side and balanced with the logo and copy on the right. Ideally, the viewer’s eyes look into the eyes of the subject and follow them through the advertisement to their copy diagonally down and then to the bottom bar.

            This work pokes fun at Match.com because I always feel that the advertisements for online dating services are over the top and unrealistic. Although I am sure they are somewhat effective because otherwise they would not still be around, I question their legitimacy about the people on them as well as the safety. This is the main reason I chose to use people’s mug shots because undoubtedly there are people on online dating services with questionable pasts. I think my work differs from others because it looks at something more personal than commercialism and infamous companies who make frequent blunders. The overall idea of the spoof is in dialog with the ones on www.adbusters.com and works from the class. It uses sarcasm as well as a sense of creepy hilarity from each person and their mug shot. I based my work off of a Match.com ad campaign that came out last fall. I cam across it in an old magazine that my roommate kept, she doesn’t like throwing them out for whatever reason. Their campaign has a digital and print aspect—they placed advertisements in magazines for women with images of attractive men and created a youtube video to match each advertisement. You can view the video here to witness the cheesiness that is Match.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYCgdFuUy0E. It is unclear about who created the campaign and who worked on it, but following this campaign, Match.com switched from using agencies to doing work in-house. The media agency they have been using is Boston-based agency, Mullen (http://www.mullen.com/). I happened upon my approach for this when I was doing a Google Image search of “creepy men” and saw one mug shot posted. I then decided to look further into the mug shot idea. As it turns out, for whatever reason, Miami NewTimes posts high quality mug shots every Friday, they call it Mug Shot Fridays, http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/11/mugshots_friday_dented_heads.php).

The original Match.com advertisement wants to show people that not everyone on Match.com is a creep or a stalker or old. The overt meaning of this advertisement is that Match.com has more to offer. There are attractive, “perfect” people on Match.com that they guarantee you will find if you join. Match.com wants women to think they will find their soul mate. The covert meaning behind this advertisement is found in the word “protect”. This word is meant to comfort women who have been hurt who want to protect their hearts from getting hurt againMatch.com has the trademark phrase “It’s okay to look” which calms the target audience and intends to make them feel like it is normal and acceptable. The advertisement of a young, attractive male in a soft black and white photograph with white fonts that stand out. The only color in the image is the Match.com banner in blue with a lime green accent circle. The black and white image is supposed to draw the viewer in and the colors guide the eye through the advertisement to the information. One of the important things that this advertisement does is that it makes the service mean something to its target. The advertisers at Match.com figured out that their target audience wants protection, which it is something they dream and desire.

The spoof advertisement takes the idea of “protection” and turns it around to make the audience feel uncomfortable. This is done through the use of contrast, there is less balance between light and dark which creates a sense of uneasiness. Contrary to the original advertisement, this advertisement is hard with sharp lines and has not been airbrushed. This advertisement is meant to say that you do not know who you are talking to when you are online. Additionally, the text is meant to “creep out” the viewers. In the short paragraph on the bottom of the page in the banner, it subtly states that “we guarantee someone will find you” which eludes to the idea of stalking, another uneasy idea that sits with the audience. It is meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, which I think works well with this series.

           

Dre Sanchez - Poohspendables II

Print Ad for the new Winnie the Pooh NC-17 epic "PB2" (Poohspendables II). Spoofs 2011 Winnie the Pooh and 2012 Expendables II poster.

Social Media Campaign: Storyboards for movie trailer. Spoofs Expendables II trailer.

Please see previous blog entry for Creative Brief.

Essay Portion:

For this spoof advertisement project, I chose to focus on a faux movie campaign. My name is Andres "Dre" Victor Sanchez-Bustamante. My project, entitled The Poohspendables 2, mocks the 2011 animated film Winnie the Pooh and the upcoming 2012 action film The Expendables 2. The materials used included traditional paper and pencil for the initial design, as well as use of Photoshop for inks and colors. I briefly used Illustrator to vectorize the work, but was unsatisfied with the initial results. I printed the movie advertisement on glossy paper and scanned 4" x 6 " index cards for the storyboard treatment of the trailer. These items were handed in full on the last day of January in the year 2012.

The medium used could be defined as a digital illustration, as the work was spawned from my hands and blossomed through the digital application from Adobe known as Photoshop. As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, the first project was geared for print. The second part was storyboards that would be used for a 60 second trailer for use in a cinema. The specific subject was the family friendly Winnie the Pooh property. The secondary subject was Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables series. The posters referenced and the piece actually created by my hands utilized a geometric standard of design. There was no deconstructive or integrative elements, since the material was to the point. My piece utilized a pyramid structure in terms of organizing the characters.

The world of cinema has always been a strong fascination of mine. As a student in the Cinema Production graduate program, it is not hard to understand why I would juxtapose the innocence of Winnie the Pooh with the machoism of Stallone's violent action film. Along with a deep admiration for both film and graphic design, I grew up as a child loving the adventures of the Pooh Bear and, as a young adult, embraced legal firearms during my early college years in South Florida. In other words, I had much familiarity in all things being utilized for this project from personal experience. My work differs from the other students in that I incorporated my illustration talents to work the poster from the ground up. There was no digital trickery or photography utilized, only blood, sweat and tears. Oh, and a lot of graphite as well. I researched Commando and John Rambo, as well as Disney animation, to get a feel for the creation I was about to design at the time.

The purpose of this project was to mock the family friendly appeal of Disney films with the testosterone-drenched shoot-em-ups. In today's world, children play video games with realistic weaponry at an early age and watch gleeful animation. Many parents are also ignorant to the world their children are exposed to. It is my belief, that a parent would bring their child to an R-rated killfest under the false pretense being generated by the timeless cuteness of these Disney characters. I feel in the end, I succeeded in generating an appealing poster that drives the absurdness of such opposites. My only regret was the ordering of the names (Kanga before Roo) at the top of the poster - which may confuse viewers. All in all, I had a lot of fun - despite going sleepless for 72 hours prior to my presentation. My apologies in advance for my drained performance. Nothing comes easy, but I enjoyed every last second of the laborious work I endured. I am just glad that the talented students in my class thought my work was adequate.