Poster Campaign - Group Work

Well today was a great day. The last time we worked in groups on a project I wasn't here (tape and type) and to be honest, I felt like missed out a bit. So I enjoyed today for that reason and also because of the brief we were set.

We had to create an A3 poster to encourage public spending based on the economist, John Maynard Keynes theory that, spend more, save less will help to grow the economy quickly.

We were put into groups of 5-6 and began discussing ideas. I had an idea from the day before when I looked at the brief but I didn't want to force that idea on the team so thought if we couldn't come up with anything, then I'd introduce it.

Brainstorming was slow at first and I almost felt it more responsibility (maybe as the oldest?) to get people talking and throwing ideas down. We tried to identify a target audience and thought that most young people wouldn't have a massive disposable income, equity or even savings so initially directed our thoughts towards 40+, kids grown up and left home. We then had to think of what would entice them to spend? We thought of a lifestyle. Everyone has role models and ideals so we looked for a role model of that generation. The first iconic name we produced was Audrey Hepburn. Liked by almost everyone, male and female and particularly non offensive. The image of her in Breakfast at Tiffany's is iconic in itself and easily identifiable. We also thought the theme of the film, an alleged working girl, who has a taste for the finer things in life, was very appropriate.

We then tried to think of a similar person for an older generation, 60's. Richie Rich was suggested but nobody really knew of his popularity or impact. We decided to come back to a younger audience but this was the hardest one to find. There are so many popular figures in modern day culture its hard to find one the encompasses every ones likes. The Beckhams are probably too overused and other sports personalities were not appropriate. Lewis Hamilton was suggested, but not whilst he is well respected by the younger audience, sports people in general are resented almost for the money they "earn" and most wouldn't take well to seeing a multi millionaire telling them to part with their cash. We even thought about how big the Hip Hop culture is these days, but could only identify Kanye West as a non controversial highly popular figure, but he isn't British, so the idea didn't work. The nearest thing to him is Dizzie Rascal, but he's not as glamorous, popular, famous or iconic enough for the ads to work.

Daniel Craig, as James Bond, was suggested. The James Bond lifestyle is something most men would like to buy into, money, cars, women etc and then thought of using a James Bond from each era. For the older audience, Sean Connery, middle aged, Roger Moore and youngest, Daniel Craig. This gave the impression of a James Bond box set/advert and the meaning was lost. But Sean Connery, especially as Bond, has a similar aura about him as Hepburn and we felt we had two strong icons, one female, one male to work with. Both were popular, credible, British, iconic and non-offensive.

Along with their own iconic status come with them an image of iconness, a Martini for Connery and Breakfast at Tiffany's for Hepburn. We decided to keep the images black and white and then decide on a strap line. We wanted people to spend, but to spend on themselves, not for the sake of the economy. It had to be personal than that. Immediately we came up with " When did you last have a Martini/Breakfast at Tiffany's?" But felt maybe it sounded too much like an advert for Martini, so to make it more personal, replaced "...last have" with "last treated yourself to..." as it gives a subtle idea of treating you for the good of you, not for the economy.

We wanted the text to have a dreamy, luxurious feel to it, a little extravagant but not over the top. Baskerville was chosen as its a serif font and fitted beautifully with the message we were trying to deliver. We also wanted a strap line "Save Less, Spend More" on the posters to make them more contemporary. Initially we put it in Arial, but it didn't sit right and after some consultation with Sally, chose to go with Baskerville for the strap line too and right justify it.

I was extremely pleased with the outcome. I felt it was simple, elegant and subtly planted the idea in the head of the viewer of treating themselves to a little something. Nothing too expensive, just enough for it to be a bit special, we couldn't very well say "When was the last time you treated yourself to Pearls/an Aston Martin" as this would alienate the audience.

I think I played a strong role in the group, tried to encourage the less vocal and also generated some good ideas of my own. I thought Hannah's input was excellent, coming up some really strong concepts and Luke's Photoshop skills were also valuable. Steve went through a lot of Fonts and even had a go at InDesign.

Although our idea didn't "win" I am still really pleased with the concept, from the the first stages to the final print. We were fortunate to have a strong team and no real personality clashes, we even all went for lunch together!

Again I wasn't vocal enough in the crit of others work. I think more about what I'm going to say and our team is going to present than questioning others work. I need to improve on this. On two occasions my question was actually asked by Kit, but if I had spoken up it would have looked better.

A thoroughly enjoyable day with a good outcome. I like that we were once again mixed up, I had hardly spoken with any of this team before today.