Jodie Marsh

No, not a rant about Jodie Marsh, glamour model, party girl and dubious role model, but about the advert for her show on MTV.

Despite trawling the internet, I couldn't find any images, so above is the promotional picture from the website marrymejodiemarsh.com. The advert for the program is actually very stylistically interesting, treating video to look like stop frame animation. The footage is given an old fashioned feel and made to look jerky and clumsy. I like this quirky style, and like the fact that the aged feel is deliberately contrasted with the idea behind the show (Marsh being a one of the new breed of celebrity famous for doing nothing much)

TV advert- Freya

These images show the style used in TV adverts for Freya underwear and swimwear in sponsorship of 'The Clothes Show' on UK Style. Models are seen wearing the brand while walking through a fantasy landscape of 2-dimensional black and white illustrations with areas of
softly graduating colours. Elements of the landscape move, for example when a woman looks at her (illustrated) reflection in a pond and it ripples when she touches it.

I really like this style of animation, mixing hand drawn, still elements with video and stop frame animation. The flowing, feminine lines and feminine colours give the brand a strong personality, and one that is suited to an underwear label. The black and white allow the bright colours of the product to really stand out, and I like the fact that the models (in the TV advert at least) are not stick-thin catwalk types. This backs up the brand's message of making underwear in larger sizes than most high street labels.

I think the fantasy landscape makes sense, seeing as wandering around outside in only underwear isn't really an everyday occurance! It also gives the impression that this is for women- there are no other people at all, communicating the message that this brand is not for impressing men, it is personal. This is in stark contrast to many other underwear advertising (for example wonderbra, see below) which makes full use of the tried and tested phrase 'sex sells'. It's nice to see a company be a bit more imaginative!

Controversial Advert- Royal Ballet

Critics of this advertising campaign by the Royal Opera House to promote the principal dancer of the Royal Ballet have called it 'appalling and tacky'. I disagree with their view that it is unnecessarily 'sexy' and think that it is impactful without compromising the image of the company. I've never been to the ballet, but surely watching groups of athletes move round the stage wearing skin-tight costumes in a darkened hall is quite erotic? Why not use this element to sell it? Yes, the man in the advert is attractive, but the copy is about his strength, not his looks. Also, the colours used are quite masculine with the dark grey of the background reflected in the eye colour and the simple yellow and white of the text. The coat of arms gives a formal and official edge to this poster, although the wording is less formal, using the word 'he's'. I think the word 'Fact' is unnecessary and spoils the shape of the copy and more formal wording might work better for a poster promoting a serious subject matter. However, I really like the concept behind this campaign and it has certainly worked on me by raising my interest in ballet.

Book- After you'd gone, Maggie O'Farrell

I thought this book was brilliant- incredibly moving but without being soppy and overly sentimental. The story is about three generations of a scottish family, focussing on Alice who is in a coma after what is either an accident or attempted suicide. The stories of Alice and her mother (Ann) and grandmother (Elspeth) are cleverly told in fragments so that their histories are gradually pieced together and we find out how they came to this point.

Unfortunately, there are some clichéd details in the book (for example, Ann and her other two daughters are very fair while Alice has a dark complexion. We later learn that Ann had an affair... surprise, surprise). However, the focus here isn't really the scandal and mystery, it's about life and the impact of our decisions on both ourselves and other. Love is also a major theme, but this is NOT just trashy chick-lit with a fairy tale ending!

Photo

Taken by Lauren Garland, 16.04.07, Somewhere in London

It doesn't really need much explanation- I just found in amusing and very much a sign of the times. Every high street looks the same with branches of the same chains, here the workmen are reassuring the public without the need for the new business to use any elaborate advertising campaigns. The extreme contrast between the slick, corporate machine that is starbucks and a note written with a finger in dust is an important part of the message.

Film- Garden State

Another not-so-new film, but one of my all time favourites that I watched again recently and remembered how good it was! Zach Braff's dysfunctional character, Andrew, comes off medication for the first time after coming home for his Mother's funeral. A series of wacky situations (including this image above of the shirt made for Andrew by a relative out of offcuts from his mother's 'gorgeous' design) lead Andrew to discover what life is about now that he is no longer numbed by drugs. Visually, there are many strong images in the film, including the rich friend who has an enourmous house empty of furniture signifying his empty existance dispite the wealth (the old chestnut 'money can't buy you happinness'). I like the simplicity of the story- it allows the imagery and soundtrack to paint the picture of Andrew's personal journey, which I think is relevant to everyone and the way they live their lives.

Film- The Thomas Crown Affair

Not a new film, but I watched it recently on DVD and really enjoyed it. A relevant film for visual communicators because it features several famous paintings by Magritte, Monet, Van Gogh and Pisarro. It is also a good example of lateral thinking- the way in which Thomas Crown pulls off the theft and subsequent return of the painting is ingenious. My favourite scene deliberately references the above painting (Magritte's 'Son of Man') where the gallery becomes filled with the stereotypical businessman in black suit, white shirt, red tie, bowler hat, trench coat and carrying a briefcase. This is a powerful image with connotations of trustworthiness and monotony, the irony being that Thomas Crown is a thief who craves excitment.