Evaluative commentary of Advertising project

To create my final product, I had to go through certain stages. First, I had to make a brand; so I researched other makeup brands. I then created a company name, logo and slogan. I then continued my research by analysing existing media such as posters and television advertisements. After that, I had to identify my target audience and work out what would attract them to my final product. My questionnaire then gave me feedback from them. Finally, I made my advertisements, which included doing a photo shoot. To be successful in advertising, you must know your target audience and find out what they would desire in a product. A questionnaire is a good idea because it is then easier to offer them options. There are certain images, colours, slogans and names that would appeal to certain audiences. For example, I used a pink, “fancy” font with a love heart and used a fairy tale theme because I aimed to sell to a stereotypically “girly” demographic. My target audience was 13-18 year old middle class girls. For my questionnaire, I made the words “win” and “free” very prominent so it would catch their attention and make them read the restof it. I based my questions around makeup because it would benefit my own brand. In order to plan my production, I first had to do research existing brands and forms of media. I looked at logos, slogans, posters and existing television adverts. I then constructed a brainstorm of many different ideas. Choosing my favourite ones, I highlighted the key ideas. To test them and experiment with what looked good, I sketched ideas out such as posters and rough copies of story boards. I proceeded to make them on the computer after that.

To take my photos, I used an iPhone camera. I used this because there were different effects easily available on the phone and the camera takes good quality photos. To edit photos, make posters and questionnaires, I used photo shop. This was beneficial because it gave my ideas a professional touch and gave me the ability to edit them in certain ways. To gather together ideas andpresent them in a clear way, I used PowerPoint. During the photo shoot I used a green screen; it made it easier to edit the pictures later on. I was able to cut out the images and place them on certain backgrounds easier because the back drop was all one colourand flat. To use photo shop and complete my products, I was taught the basics by my teacher and then experimented with the more complicated things. To get things perfect, I also used trial and error. During my assignment, I lacked inspiration and time. So, I kept developing my ideas, especially my logo until I came to one I liked. Also, despite using the green screen, it was difficult to separate my models from the green screen, because the green was obvious and outlined them. To solve this problem, I just had to be precise and patient when using Photoshop. For my logo, I used a pink, handwritten font. This appeals to my target audiencebecause pink is a stereotypically female colour, whilst the font makes the buyer feel like it has a personal effect on the company. My questionnaire appeals to my target audience because it again uses pink, and is quick and easy to do. Also, the words WIN and FREE entice the customer to do the questionnaire in order to get the free gift and/or win the prize.

I was extremely pleased with certain parts of my project. I found my questionnaire to be effective because the questions relatedwell to my brand and idea. Also, the poster that I created is similar to real world examples, and I believe that it could pass as an actual published poster. My analysis was also very detailed and helped develop my understanding of everyday media forms. However, there were also some weaknesses to my assignment. For my photo-shoot, there were limitations that affected my pictures. Originally, I wanted to use many different locations, but it was difficult to get to these locations and organise times that they were available to me. I did not have access to a professional costume department, which lead to my models having to weartheir own clothes. Also, I did not have professional equipment such as special lighting or cameras. I also had limited targetaudience research. To improve, I could do interviews; create focus groups etc. to make my products more accurate and appealing. These limitations had an overall effect on my final piece.