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Psychology of Advertising


rentz

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Hey guys. For the final project of my AP Psychology class I'm doing a project on how psychological principles apply to advertising and marketing.

So I'm going to include things such as slogans, brand-name vs store brand, etc. But I'd also like to include how design affects us psychologically. Because I know many of the users here are professional designers, I am curious to know if there are any psychological "tricks" that you use within your designs. For example, is there a fairly consistent cognitive/emotional response to things such as color, composition, etc? And how do you use this in your designs?

In research I've found quite a bit on the use of words/syntax and pricing and such, but not so much on the visual element of it. So if you have anything it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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I'm sure that there's been books upon books upon books written about Color Theory - the emotional connotations we give to specific colors like passion to red and coldness to blue.

But a less-than-subtle trick used I've noticed is that you rarely see logos slanting to the left. It confuses the eye, but more importantly, people perceive left as "going backwards" since most people read left to right. When something is sheared to the right, it gives the impression of forward progress and sometimes the extra aggressiveness to get the edge on other logos.

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Whatever you do, put a hot woman in a bikini holding whatever and it sells. Beer, refridgerators, stocks, used cars, anit-Vaiagra, weed killer, a hot woman in a bikini will sell. Sex sells, and nothing else is needed! :lol::P:winner:

 

 

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youre far better up just looking up some articles on colour/type/etc in branding and advertising than asking the board.

so much has been written on the subject, youre unlikely tom receive extra enlightenment from us.

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youre far better up just looking up some articles on colour/type/etc in branding and advertising than asking the board.

so much has been written on the subject, youre unlikely tom receive extra enlightenment from us.

Yeah, but that way he'd have to do his own research. And that's harder and more boring.

1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags

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Haha. Sorry guys, I didn't mean to suggest that I wanted you to do the project for me or anything. I've certainly done a lot of research on my own on this topic. However, I don't personally know any graphic designers and I figured asking here would give me a look into how these concepts affect the design process that I wouldn't necessarily see in articles.

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To be honest, each thing you do is different. Even if it's the same client, it may be something different which may use a different color, font, or whatever. Do we think about how we're trying to make someone feel when we use images, colors, and fonts. We do, but sometimes we don't think about it and we stumble upon something accidentally. Are colors like red, yellow, orange going to give a person a different feel than a blue, brown, or even pink? Sure. There's really no simple answer to this, it's kind of like asking is there a "go to" font that we use? It depends on what the project calls for. You may want to use certain colors, but the client may want to use another set of colors and you hate their colors, but you use them.

 

 

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Look at the influence of text on advertisements.

1. Does the model appear to "say" the words that he/she is appears near? Or does the ad suggest a speaker different from the model?

2. Where does the text appear in relation to the model's body? For example: Does text appear to come out of the model's mouth? Or does text appear branded across a model's sexual organs?

3. Speaking is a political act. Does the company "allow" its model to "speak" through text? (If yes, acknowledge the various textual arrangements that persuade the viewer in accepting a dialogue with the advertisement. If no, the model is objectified by the text and by the product it advertises.

4. And if you do not want to veer too far from sports design: The most objectifying model-text arrangement is a baseball card. Refer to the candidness of the photograph and remark the consent required to take a candid picture and the ability of the company or organization (in this case, Topps baseball card company and any other ads on the baseball card) to assign text to the player, which also requires consent.

5. And after looking at hundreds of model-text arrangements of sexual ads, you will begin to realize that women in advertising are not allowed to "speak" - that is, the "speaker" in the text assumes a different "speaking" role in ads in which female models are most prevalent.

6. Models, humans, were once called "mannequins" and the clothes were called "models." Now, humans are called models.

7. I call the political influence of text on a model in an advertisement, mannequinism.

When is the assignment due? I have a whole PowerPoint on this.

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i always think of color and shape more than any other thing when designing. i like to incorporate squares or triangles for strength, power, stability; spirals or sun burst for a bit of chaos and youth. i could write a book about color. some colors make you hungry, others make you tired. weather people realize it or not color and shape affects how they feel. i also like to use the "hero shot" for making people look big, powerful, in charge, etc. composition is another way i try to get a message across.

you should look into anything with branding. brand loyalty, why brands are like cults, brand association. too much stuff to go over in one post, but any huge brand will have the psyc aspects down.... except Pepsi

 

GRAPHIC ARTIST

BEHANCE  /  MEDIUM  /  DRIBBBLE

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