Photographic Case Studies

This week we had to find photographic case studies. For these, I have chosen to use two advertisements that incorporate photography as one of the visual elements used alongside typography.  In both of these example, the images are used to create a meaning behind what is being advertised to the audience. Without these images, the choice of wordings and type used would mean very little, and would not fully portray the product being discussed. As well as this, without the use of images and photography, both of these advertisements would be extremely plain and lacking in anything interesting/engaging to draw in the attention of the intended audience. Both examples for my photographic case studies use rhetoric in their choice of design to try and persuade the audience into purchasing their particular product. 

The first of my case studies is this advert for Revlon lipstick. This example shows use of all forms of rhetoric (verbal, presentational, photographic and editing) in order to engage the audience and make their product seem appealing. For presentational rhetoric, the use of acres Emma Stone has been selected to try and entice the target audience (females). By using quite a well known actor at the time, makes their product more appealing, as it creates this idea in a audience's mind that if a celebrity wears that product then it must be good and they too want to own it. The colours used are very fresh and vibrant looking - pinks, corals, oranges.  This makes the advertisement engaging and attractive, and due to the bright/pretty looking colours, makes the poster as a whole quite eye catching. The use of these colours  gives a healthy look to Emma Stone, and again makes the audience think that by using this product they can look/be like her.  

In the case of editing rhetoric, they have decided to have their subject looking directly into the camera. By doing this it's as though she's directly in contact with the audience, and it also makes her look strong and confident - something they may be suggesting happens when using this product.

For this second case study, again all four types of rhetoric have been used to persuade the audience into buying this product. What's particularly interesting in the advertisement though, is the composition of the subjects in relation to the camera. This is something that has been cleverly thought out and it is used to make this particular product even more appealing to their female target audience. By having this photographed image of the man and woman together as the main body of the advertisement - supported only by minimal text and a small image of the product itself - it instantly grabs the attention of the audience. Both these subjects appear to be naked (or in very minimal clothing) which instantly triggers connotations of sex in an audience's mind. This instant connotation, placed alongside their closeness and embrace in the photograph makes it seem as though the advertisement is saying, "wear this perfume and your life will be like this." 

Also, with the female subject being place slightly higher then the male, and with her gaze looking directly into the camera - as opposed to the male who can only be seen slightly in comparison, and who is embraced in her hands and leaning into her body - it instantly gives the impression that she has power. This positioning alongside the connotations of sex, create the impression that as a female, if you wear this perfume, you will become confident, sexy and adored by men. 

Not necessarily the case.... but it is a definitely a clever use of photography in a marketing campaign.