Evaluation

Ryan Goldsmith

Q1 - Is your advertising campaign fit for purpose and why?

• My work is fit for it’s purpose because all of the variations of poster, leaflet etc. and contain information that is solely focused on raising the awareness and the amount of help that is out there for the homeless community. They all use similar approaches that have been seen in the past by other charities and organizations which make them fit the bill for the job in hand of helping the homeless. I have used imagery that appeals to people in different ways some are in a negative form and others shed light on the positive things that are happening thanks to the people that are helping through these charities. The image on the left shows someone helping but still shows negativity as the man is still out on the street whereas the image on the right shows people inside taking part in an activity being able to express themselves. The poster in the middle is one made by SASH and has elements of both positive and negative it has also been kept to a very minimal amount of text.

• I think that one way I could improve my appeal to my audience would be to show people doing things that would appeal to people in the age bracket as this might help to catch their attention more and make them want to get themselves out of the situation that they find themselves in and further themselves as a person.

Q2 – Does it communicate your message clearly and why?

• My messages are clearly put across to the public with my products, this is easy to see because all of the designs are saying similar things and are all trying to hammer home the idea that you should help people less fortunate. It is made apparent that I am trying to get the message across because the important information that is meant to catch your eye is in a larger font so that you see it and that you will read that first. All of my designs have kept the focus on the cause and don’t veer off and include additional information about non related subjects, this means that there is only one subject in these publications which in essence should make it very apparent to the reader what we are about as a charity. Some examples of this are shown below, on the left there is the inside of the leaflet that has been made and as you can see all of the information contained within is concerned with homelessness showing related statistics and the story of one woman that has helped out and why she decided to, this sort of information can often influence people to do the same. On the right there is the title of the leaflet which is the first thing you will read and will make you think straight away. In the middle there is an example of the further information that can be found on the reverse of the leaflet which gives you more of an idea about the charity as a whole.

• I think that one way I could improve upon my design would be to put some more of my own feelings and thoughts into them, I feel like this would help to add to the intimate feeling of them and might also make people feel as if they are getting information from a genuine person rather than just some regurgitated information taken from various sources. This might help to give people a sense of security that they would obviously require at times like this.

Q3 – Is it appropriate for your target audience and why?

• I feel that my products are well suited to the target audience, this is due to the fact that I have kept most of the designs fairly simplistic as to keep the attention of the reader. I did this because people can often be put off or feel bored when reading large quantities of information. My target audience had a large range it was for aimed at people aged 16-24 that are either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, however I also had a sub target audience in mind and that was essentially anyone that felt like they might want to help out, this is why there was extra information on each of the designs e.g. telephone number, E-mail address for those who wanted to find out more information and perhaps help out. I feel that the majority of the images are very welcoming which is a huge thing when you’re aiming information at people that are going through rough times because these people will be looking for that nurturing figure to help them out. I think that one way that I could improve this and make the connection between people aged 16-24 and the products stronger would be to use more imagery of people of that age range as this would show them that other people their age are also going through a similar thing. In the bottom right there is an example of what I am referring to as SASH have used an image of a girl that looks as though she fits in the age range of my target audience. On the left you can see that I have decided to use images that are mostly of people that are of a higher age so another thing I should’ve done to improve the relevance of the images to the cause would be to alter the logo so that it doesn’t say preventing youth homelessness together as this isn’t really applicable to most of my images which I feel lets them down.

Q4 – compare and contrast your original intentions with the outcome you arrived at

• There were a few alterations that were made during the stages of production which veered away from those initial plans which were set out prior to this. One of which is the layout of the posters which were initially planned out to be done in a portrait design but I changed my mind and made them landscape instead, this was down to the fact that I preferred the way that my images sat on the pages and the way it all felt on the eye.

• The ideas for the bill board stayed the same for the most part and looks somewhat similar to the initial flat plan for it and the way in which it was to be laid out. This shows that I have tried to ensure that I have a good variation of different layouts while still maintaining the same feel throughout the set of products.

• I feel that it is a good thing that I managed to break away from my initial plans as this helped me use some trial and error to find better ways of laying out the information so that it has the best impact that it can have.

Initial poster layout. Initial bill board concept

Actual bill board

Actual poster designs

Q5 – How effective are the techniques you have used and why?

• I feel that the techniques that I have used have been successful in a number of ways, one of these is that by using the same font type and colour scheme throughout have helped to give the feeling that they come as a set and are made by the same company. I think that the colours that I have chosen to use give a positive and welcoming feel to the designs and that was exactly what I wanted due to the sensitive nature of the topic of homelessness in young people. The font that I chose help give off a kind vibe as oppose to some other fonts that can be harsh on the eye and difficult to read. I used these fonts to try ensure that the writing didn’t seem to formal and intimidating for people of a younger age to read if they are in a situation of homelessness. The images that I have chosen also help to give off this sense being helpful and positive in life, they all show people helping others in a number of different ways and I hope that this type of thing makes people think of other ways in which they can help.

• At the bottom left there is an example of the text that I have used and it is showing that it is easy on the eye and also easy to read even in a large block of copy. The colours work well and contrast well together making it stand out.

• At the bottom right there is an example of how it all works together; the image, copy, font and colours. I think that they all work well in conjunction with each other to create a clean and simple design.

• In the centre at the bottom there is an example of how SASH have used a number of different fonts throughout their leaflet to display their information. I feel that this is something that I should consider for next time as it helps you to break up the text and allows you to differentiate between different tones in the text and for example different people talking i.e. interviewer and interviewee.

Q6 – Is the content effective and why?

• I think the content of my designs is effective, one of the reasons why I think this is because I have used questions throughout my designs which make you think about the subject of homelessness which essentially is the aim for some of my audience as this could lead to them finding out more information about the cause and then moving on to helping in which ever way they feel is suitable I feel that the content of my designs help to show people what can be done and what others are currently doing. An example of this is in my leaflet there is an interview with a woman who decided to take it upon herself to use a spare room in her house to help homeless youths on a night giving them a place to sleep.

• I think that one way I could improve in future would be to include some information from people aged 16-24 so that the audience can relate to them and feel as if there is a way forward for them. Success stories can often fill people with hope and a sense that things can get better if given the correct treatment.

Q7 – What impact do you think your advertising campaign will have on the public and why?

• I think that my advertisements will help to raise awareness of the homeless charities out there. I say this because when doing my research I discovered that a large number of people didn’t know of many organizations that are involved. I hope that the information I have given to people will serve as a gateway to them doing something good and that they will stand up for those who are unable to do so. I think that it will also help the young people that are effected by this get help and know exactly where they can get the help that they need.

• If I was to do this again I think that I would add more information regarding what the young people can do for help and where to go so that all of the foundations are laid for them with regards to rebuilding their lives and getting on the right track because the main focus of this exercise is help as many people as possible.

Adverts like this played a large roll in the demise of smoking in public places in the early 2000s, these are a shock tactic style of advertisement whereas I have chosen to go for a more subtle approach. I would hope that my approach will also have as severe an impact on the number of homeless people as this type did on public smoking.

Q8 – What are the technical and aesthetic qualities of your work?

• I think that aesthetically there are some of my designs which are nice on the eye and easy to look at, I think that sometimes less is more and this is used with my bill board which is very clear and clean which means that it will be very suitable to be used as that particular medium of information distribution.

• I think that with regards to technical factors of my work that the most pleasing thing the fact that they are all recognizable as being part of the same set and this is obviously important when trying to make yourself recognizable as a brand, organization, company etc. so that people instantly know when they see that font style, colour scheme or logo exactly who it is and what they are about.

• I think that if I was to do this exercise again I would be more meticulous about the placing of copy and the content of the copy that I include as in some of my designs it seems as though it was an after thought or maybe just not put together quite right.

This is an example of what I am referring to, you can see the text that says “lend a helping hand…” this has been placed where it covers quite a large amount of the actual homeless person in the foreground and I feel that this gives an untidy finish to the poster and should be refined so that the copy is not too intrusive. On the right there is an example of a clean cut and clear poster with no overlaying text and other defecting imperfections.