Graphic Ads!

Critique:

As I was flipping through the pages of Elle’s February issue, I found many interesting ads for makeup and clothing. One ad in particular caught my attention. This ad was for L’Oreal Paris’ Magic Smooth Soufflé Makeup, which took up two pages of the magazine. When I first looked at the ad I was drawn to the model’s face, for it looked very smooth and beautiful. The model was found on the left page, with flawless makeup and a small smirk. On the opposite page there was the name of the product, more text underneath, a visual of the product, and a picture of a woman before (without the makeup) and after (with the makeup). The text underneath the name of the product said, “Discover instant smooth perfection.” And more text underneath that read,“This revolutionary soufflé makeup magically blurs pores and lines. Skin is transformed to velvety soft perfection, like never before.” This ad is very pleasing to the eye: the soft colors, the simple beauty of the woman, and the texture of the makeup (which is shown on the far right of the ad).

As far as the Elements and Principles of Design go, color, emphasis, and texture are the most important in this ad. The colors of the entire ad, which are shades of white and beige with pops of pink, give the overall ad a very warm, minimalistic feel. And for emphasis, the pink lids on the makeup containers definitely stand out. The people who created this ad wanted to draw attention to the product, and they did so by adding a bright color to the ad. The texture of the product in the ad is also very important. The makeup is marketed as being very smooth, like a soufflé. So on the right side of the page the makeup seems to be “pouring” out from somewhere to show its smooth texture.

Along with the Elements and Principles of Design, Semiotics help to contribute to the ad’s overall feel and statement. This ad clearly wants women to buy its product; and by buying this product women will believe that their skin will look smoother and more beautiful (much like the model’s skin). Something that definitely stands out to me in this ad is its use of words that signify other objects or meanings. For example, the ad uses the words smooth, perfection, and soufflé a lot, which are words that people often connect to other objects. When a person connects the word smooth to chocolate, for instance, that person may then connect the makeup to the smoothness of chocolate. Personally, the word smooth has a very positive meaning to me, and sure I would like my face to look smooth. I do not believe, however, that this product would create the same flawless face as it does on the pictured model.

Overall, I think this ad is designed well. It is clean cut and shows the beauty of the model’s face. I am sure many women would love to have the same flawless face as she does, which may result in those women buying the product. Like I said earlier, this product probably would not create the same flawless face in real life. This ad definitely communicates the idea that perfection is attainable. I find that repulsive in a sense, because a woman does not have to have perfect skin to look beautiful. But in a society where beauty and perfection is desired and admired, this ad will probably do well. It will feed into people’s previous thoughts on what is beautiful (smoothness, perfection) and they will buy the product. I hope that people will soon realize that there are many dimensions of beauty, and that something is not beautiful just because society claims it is.

My own graphic ad:

I chose to create an ad for a photography business, which I named Sunshine’s Photography.