My Media Work

This is my first piece of Media coursework. It was part of the induction task of the AS Media Studies course at Wyke College.

Jack Beedle Aftershave project evaluation

Before I started to create my project design, I had to choose which product I would be advertising. At first I thought about designing an advert for a woman’s perfume because it would have been easier for me to find a girl to take a picture of than it would have been to find a boy.
After I got thinking, I chose to do a men’s aftershave design but not using any models. This was quite risky since most aftershave adverts have either models or celebrities in them but I wanted my aftershave bottle to stand alone. This doesn’t follow the normal conventions of an aftershave advertisement but I really think it works as a stand alone advert with the slogan and the aftershave name.Before I could do anything design wise, for me, it was necessary to choose the fragrance name before anything else. This would give me a starting point/stimulus to create the actual design of the advert. I came up with a list of names such as Elevation, Indigo and eventually, Altitude. The reason that I chose Altitude was because from the minute I thought of it, I knew what I wanted it to look like and I created a rough draft sketch.. Before I had chance to take any of my own pictures, I decided that I would create my own digital prototypes to see what it would look like. The first draft design that I made came out better than I had planned so I was worried that when I took my own pictures that it wouldn’t be as good.
The design for ‘Altitude’ was one that came quickly and then the slogan came quickly after. Altitude is a distance measurement, usually used in aviation, so I knew that when I used the name Altitude I would have my aftershave bottle in sky.
I chose to edit the sky so that it had a darker contrast but also a richer colour. The original colour of the sky was a dull blue and the clouds were grey. With a few simple adjustments in Photoshop, I created a bright blue sky and nicely coloured and contrasted clouds. The colour blue is a strong theme in the advertisement. The connotations of the dull blue sky that I started with tended to represent sadness, I thought so by brightening up the sky and adding a different colouring to it, I created a scene that is usually used to represent serenity and a calm feel. The colouring of the bottle, again, has a darker contrast to the original image but also has a vibrance to it. I edited out a lot of the shine that came from my camera flash in the centre of the bottle but left out certain bits at the sides and top of the bottle as I wanted to make it look like it was actually shining in the sun but not wanting to detract from the bottle or the name of the brand.
The reason that I think this would appeal to a male audience is that it is a simple design that tells you straight away what it is and even suggests how it could be beneficial to someone by using the slogan “High flying has never been so simple” . This ideally would make them think that they could metaphorically fly high in any situation, whether it be at work or in a relationship. The fact that the advert gets to the point and doesn’t make you have to think at what it is trying to get at is good because people tend to just skip past adverts in magazines. This one is eye catching and if I saw it in a magazine, I would definitely look at it and it would make me want to know what it smelt like.
I chose to use a lighting effect behind the aftershave bottle, which I added in after I took my pictures, that looked like the sun so it looks like the sun is shining through and makes the product stand out even more from the rest of the advert.
If I was going to advertise this product in any magazine, it would definitely be a men’s magazine, such as FHM, Nuts, Zoo or even Attitude. These magazine’s are really primarily aimed at men so advertising in these magazines would give me an advantage in marketing because I would be advertising straight to the target audience/potential buyer.
The bottle for the aftershave is in the shape of a man’s body so you know instantly that it is a male fragrance. I was originally going to have the text that is on the bottle at the bottom of the bottle but I thought that it would take away from the sexuality and sexiness of the bottle. I think that people want to put on something that smells nice and looks nice and if it has both of those factors, it could be a well selling product which people should be wanting to buy.
I think that this aftershave would appeal to it’s target audience, which is men of all ages but probably around the 18+ age category, because the image is bright, the product is clear and the name and brand are clear too. The age category that I have targeted is also the target audience for the magazines that I would advertise in (above).
I have had previous experience using Adobe products so knowing how to use Photoshop was really beneficial to me as I didn’t have to sit through tutorials of using the products or get any help from anyone, I could just go at my own pace and not have to worry about being stuck when trying to use Photoshop at home.
I think that I managed my time wisely and if I was going to do the project again, or something similar, I would do the same things as what I did this time. I was instantly thinking of different designs that I could do and researching in magazines to see the kind of aftershave that is currently being sold.