My advertisement of choice to do a semiotic analysis over is
this Dallas Farmers Market poster campaign created by Art Director/Designer,
Ryan Smith, in 2013. I saw this ad in my Art Direction class that I was taking
at the University of North Texas in 2014. My Art Direction professor showed the class this ad as an
example for one of our projects. I
really enjoyed this advertisement and the message that was communicated in it. It’s
eye catching, relatable, and communicates a positive message.
Signifiers:
This ad is visually symmetric and centered. In the center of
the ad is a red French fries container with the words “Fresh & Tasty”
labeled on it in yellow. However, inside the container are not French fries at
all. At first glance they may look like fries but really they are fresh
vegetables. The vegetables include carrots, yellow bell peppers, and green
beans. Below this imagery is the message which reads “Dallas Farmers Market,
Healthy Foods, Affordable Prices, and Now Accepting Lone Star.” The message is
straight forward and short and simple. It tells the viewers what this is for
and what the market is providing.
Signified:
This ad doesn’t need a lot of text to communicate the message.
The message is clearly communicated through the imagery. Healthy food is the
alternative to greasy unhealthy food. The eye catching part is the use of
colors. Yellow is a warm, happy, and inviting color. It communicates that the
Farmers Market is friendly and an upbeat market. The French fries container is
red with a yellow label. Look familiar? These are the colors that McDonald's
uses as well. The McDonald’s French Fries container is so recognizable here
that I thought I was looking at a McDonald’s ad at first. One of my first
thoughts when I saw this ad was “Oh, yummy!” But when I realized that I wasn’t
looking at French fries it made me think “Did I only think it looked yummy
because of the French Fries container that looked like McDonald’s?” I think it
was very clever for the designer to use this type of fry’s container because it
really relates to anyone who has eaten French fries. For some people, eating at
McDonald’s is almost a daily thing. There is a personal connection with the fry’s
container imagery because of this relationship of eating. By replacing the French
fries with fresh vegetables, the ad almost makes me feel bad for eating French fries
instead of this healthy alternative which can be found at the Dallas Farmers Market.
It really conveys the message of changing our daily life routines by replacing
unhealthy foods with fresh foods.
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