Final Font Decisions

I have decided on this final font layout for my billboard.

I have made this decision because I believe that although my billboard is following a pastel colour theme, the pastel colours struggled to stand out against the pale background, and because the main purpose of my billboard is to grab attention, a title that does not stand out against the background the billboard will struggle to grab attention, therefore I have chosen to stick to a black title as it contrasts against the pale background.

I have decided to differentiate between the two words “teen” and “unique” because I think it will not only attract more attention but is unique from other magazine titles, which is the basis of the magazine. I started with Times New Roman for both but went on to change the word “Teen” to Tahoma as I believe it is more curved and looks more attractive to a younger audience. I looked into the tightness of the characters, I changed the word to very tight then because the letter “T” still had a gap and gave it a feel of two separate words “T” and “een” I adjusted the character spacing between the letters this will create a more immediate effect and draw the audience’s attention. To contrast from the classic look of the word “teen” I decided to stick with font type Times New Roman for the “Unique” but I have used italics to give it a sense of a romantic appearance.

Looking at Font

Now that I have chosen my background I have started looking at different types of font for my title. The magazines name is going to be “Teen Unique” so I have started by looking at standard font Times New Roman because it is clean cut and clear to look at.

To give my magazine a kind of quirky feel to appeal to teenagers even more I think that I should differentiate between the two words “teen” and “unique”, to enable this to happen I have changed the word “teen” to bold to stand out.

I really like the idea of the two words being styled differently so to take this idea one step further I have changed the “unique” to italic to contrast against the bold of the “teen”.

To give the title an even more modern feeling I have changed the font type of “teen” from Times New Roman to Tahoma, this is because the Tahoma font has a more round and curved feel from the sharp edges of the Times New Roman, I also believe that it looks more inviting. However I have made the decision to keep the “unique” aspect of the title in the font type of Times New Roman to give the title a bit of an edge.

I have aslo looked into the tightness of the font to see the different effects

Now that I have decided on the types of font and the way I want my title to look, I have turned my attention to the colours of the font. As my magazine is going to be focusing its colour scheme around pastel colours I believe the title should follow a similar design. Therefore I have tested out 3 of the most popular pastel colours starting with pastel blue which goes along nicely with the models jumper.

Next I looked at pastel pink

Then continuing on the pastel theme looked at a pastel purple

After that I looked at the pastel orange, which is not always a popular choice but I wanted to explore all options.

And finally a pastel green, although this shade has a little electric feel to it which could also attract attention.

After looking at the different colours I went back to the idea of the two words differentiating from one another, therefore I looked into mixing up with colours of the words.

First I looked at two of the popular pastel colours blue and pink

Afterwards I looked at orange and purple

After exploring all pastel options I will now go onto making the final decision.

Designing my Billboard

I start the process of designing my billboard by using the Microsoft word publisher software. I have set my chosen image as the background, however to add emphasis to the joy in the models face I have made the decision to crop out her right shoulder. By making sure that the photograph is situated in the right position with the models face, I have placed a 3x3 grid (rule of thirds) over the models face to ensure that the majority of her face is in the centre of the billboard which will then become one of the main focus points of the billboard.

 

Now that this is the case I can move on to looking different types of font that I can use.  

Final Decisions

After studying my final three photographs I have chosen this one.

I have decided on this one because of the colour of the model's jumper fits to my colour scheme, and also because the photograph looks more natural rather than staged, the image gives the impression that the model is comfortable in her own skin which fits the house style of my magazine completely.

Possible Photos

After taking some photographs to be possible main models for my billboard I have narrowed it down to three possibilities.

I have edited these photographs by enhancing the brightness and changing the density of the contrast. I have not edited the models physical appearance, I have just changed the colouring of the photograph. This is because my target audience is teenage girls. I do not believe in drastic photo shopping of people's physical appearance, this is because it can give girls the wrong idea of what people look like and what they believe to be society's expectations of their appearance.

Template for My Billboard

Planning my Billboard

Following my research into billboards I have decided how to organise and design my billboard.

My billboard will be focusing on an image of  a teenage girl, the photograph will be from the shoulders up and focusing on her face (mid shot). The model will be wearing minimal makeup to focus on the idea of natural beauty and will reinforce the idea of girls not having to cake their faces in makeup to feel comfortable in their own skin. This will represent my magazines house style.

The billboard will have a QR code in one of the bottom corners to enable a quick link to the online media aspects of the magazine and also a website address for those who do not have a smartphone to quickly access the website as do most other institutions.

I have decided that the billboard will have a plain and simple design that is still eye catching. Vintage and pastel colours are very fashionable at the moment so I intend for my billboard to follow that sort of colour scheme, this will break away from the other styles of magazines available enabling my magazine to stand out as a unique product.

The billboard will have a very small amount of textual content as the findings of my questionnaire show that the majority of people do not pay attention to most of the textual content anyway, I will put the name of my magazine “Teen Unique” in big bold letters across the top, with the photograph covering the majority of the background, with the rest of the information set out in the design of the front cover of a magazine. By doing this I therefore aim for everything to be attention grabbing and for the main focus of promoting my magazine to be put across.

Billboard Research Evaluation

My research mainly focused on the history and how billboards are used in different ways, this enables me to see the progression and the effects that different billboards have on selected target audiences opinions.

By researching the history I was able to see how billboards have progressed from the very first Obelisk to the 1900’s all the way up to modern day Piccadilly Circus. By seeing the history it reinforced the idea of the effectiveness of billboard advertising have lasted so long, they would still be a good and effective way of advertising my product.

The analysis of billboards showed me what is best to include in my billboard and the layout and where it is situated gave me ideas of my design. The research into QR codes showed me that as my target audience are teenage girls, they are more likely to have smartphones, therefore with the option of a QR code they are able to access more out of my final product.

Therefore my research has enabled me to find out the best way to target my target audience, how to set out my billboard, and the best way for it to attract attention.

Questionnaire Findings

The results of my billboard questionnaire findings are that my billboard has got to target my target audience directly but can also have an appeal to others for example to parents who would buy it for their daughters. My billboard will consist of a plain and very simple design so it is not too overcrowded but is still eye catching. My billboard will be positioned in all town centres near the shops and also in busy public transport areas such as bus stations, this is because the majority of teenage girls rely on public transport as they are too young to drive. The textual content on my billboard will be a small amount as the questionnaire showed most people don’t pay that much attention to the text part of it.

By conducting this questionnaire it has ensured that I have taken the general publics opinion into account, by doing this I can understand what it is they want to see and expect from a billboard, consequently ensuring that my billboard reaches full potential and fulfilling its purpose to advertise my teenage fashion and beauty magazine to the specified target audience.

Questionnaire

To decide on features and layouts for my billboard I have decided to conduct a questionnaire. I have asked 10 people varying in ages from 16-30, to make the results easier to understand I have converted the numbers into percentages and put them onto a pie chart totalling up to 100%, I created the pie charts on PowerPoint along with the comments beneath them, then converted them into images to put onto my blog. The results of my findings are as followed

QR Codes on Billboards

QR codes are a great way for people with smart phones to get directly to a website they are looking for. With the increasing number of people with smart phones QR codes are becoming more and more popular with companies advertising their products; some companies are even using this QR code as the only thing on their billboard.

This billboard advertisement for Calvin Klein has replaced a few of their more “racier” billboards that are unsuitable for younger members of the public, so for those who still wish to view it they simply just have to scan the QR code on their smart phone.

QR scanning is an excellent form of modern day billboard advertising, however it is not completely effective, as even through there is a growing number of people with smart phones, not everyone who views the billboard has one or can even be bothered to scan it, therefore the billboard is not meeting its full potential or its entire target audience. Therefore if there was to be a billboard like the image below it would be almost pointless as it wouldn’t be fulfilling its full potential, and can be seen to some people as a waste of advertising space.

For my billboard I will be using a QR code however it will not be the centre point of my billboard but it will mean that the link is still available for those members of the public who wish to access it and as my target audience is teenage girls, the majority of teenage girls have a smart phone so they will be able to use the QR code and the enticement of having that little something extra that they can accesses independently will add to the excitement of the product however for those who don’t have a smart phone access they will still have the billboard to view the advertisement.   

Targeting the Audience

Targeting the right target audience is vital to the success of a billboard and the product it is advertising. Companies target their audiences by showing them things that appeal to them, that are eye catching and that demonstrate the product in the best possible way. By ensuring that my billboard targets the right target audience will create more business for my magazine.

My target audience is teenage girls; by advertising something that appeals to them it is the right way to generate their interest. For example my magazine is about fashion and beauty so my billboard will not be an image of something like a racing car which is completely off topic and un-relatable to the stereotypical teenage girl and to my magazine.

This billboard advertisement of vogue.com is simple and effective; it has a black background with white writing, the larger writing is the main aspect of the billboard the address of vogue.com, underneath is smaller writing "Fashion as it happens" describing what the purpose of the website is, and then right at the bottom is the small print which the advertisers don’t really mind if the audience do not see nor remember, so the size of the text on this billboard has been structured through its importance. The usual vogue logo so it generates instant recognition, and an image of a model wearing the latest trend in clothes.

The billboards structure follows the rule of third technique, where the layout can be easily separated by 3 lines situated equally apart going both vertically and horizontally, this is so that the billboard has a good balance and the content is not too over crowed in a certain place and creates more interest in the composition.

This billboard links directly to the theme of the magazine and is appealing to the vogue target audience. For my billboard it will stick to the theme of my magazine and will most likely follow a design similar to the example of vogue.com above.

 

 

Ideas for my Billboard

The minimalistic technique becomes eye catching to the audience and is much more straight to the point, rather than an over crowed billboard with too much to view at once and the simple design would have a much larger influence as the audience has longer to focus on a certain object, teenagers are my target audience so rather than over crowd them with information it would be simple and easy to determine the point of my product.


The placement of my billboard will most likely be a high street therefore it will be a 2D billboard. The focus of my billboard is to advertise my magazine which will be based on teenage fashion/beauty therefore its situation in a high street will be ideal and no need for it to be 3D, the high street is ideal to advertise my billboard for my magazine because teenagers are normally around the towns, shopping with friends and is the perfect place to catch peoples eyes and attention. My billboard will also be illuminated at night time with certain features being emphasised through the lights.

Simple but Effective

This billboard advertising Heineken beer is a perfect example of how a simple picture of the product itself can be effective. The billboard is straight to the point and explains the product in general. The three dimensional concept features a hand seemingly coming out of the background about to grab the bottle of beer. When I design my billboard I aim for it to be plain and simple and too the point.

This is another great simple yet effective billboard design. The add shows an overweight man tipping the sign over due to his weight, the billboard is advertising a fitness centre, therefore the contrasting image with reason for the billboard makes it even more eye catching with it being tilted.

I really like the idea of the contrasting image with the reason for the billboard and hope to use a similar idea with my own.

Analysing a 2D Billboard

2D Billboards

2D billboards, otherwise known as the original billboards are simply the plain images that do not have parts physically coming off of them. They are more common on high streets and train stations to avoid vandalism to the 3D billboards. They are still just as popular and just as effective in successful advertisement as 3D billboards, they are usually straight to the point and minimalistic with contrasting colours and large font, yet grab just as much attention from the audiences.

Piccadilly Circus

Billboards or “hoarding” started in Piccadilly circus in the early 1900’s, the signs used to cover the majority of the area but now only cover one building. The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs; these were replaced with neon lights, as well as moving signs.

The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs but then these were replaced with neon lights, as well as moving signs. The very first Neon sign was for the British meat extract Bovril. From December 1998, digital projectors were briefly used for the Coke sign, the first to be computerised. However the 2000s saw a gradual move to LED displays and it meant completely replacing neon lamps by 2011. The number of signs has reduced over the years as the rental costs have increased. Using these lights with the billboards attracts attention to the signs and makes them much more eye catching.

Liberia

  Few people read the newspapers in Liberia. The rest have huge public billboards at the side of the roads that tell them what the government wants them to know, how it wants them to behave.  Simplistic propaganda it may be, but if these messages do get across, the country will be a better place. These billboards create interest not just in Liberia but around the rest of the world also, therefore the billboard however controversial has done its job.

Analysing a 3D Billboard

3D Billboards

3D billboards are mainly situated in busy areas, mainly cities. They differentiate from the ordinary 2D billboards by standing out, literally.  They make what they are advertising much more interesting to look at, which means that they are talked about a lot more meaning that the billboard has fulfilled its purpose. 

Although much more expensive to produce than a 2D billboard, they create much more of a “buzz” and attract much more attention therefore creating much more business for the company.

Billboard Limiting Laws

In the UK, billboards are controlled as adverts as part of the planning system. To display an illegal advert (that is, without planning permission) is a criminal offence with a fine of up to £2500 per offence (per poster). 

All of the large UK outdoor advertisers such as CBS Outdoor, JCDecaux, Clear Channel, Titan and Primesight have numerous convictions for such crimes.

Not Always Commercial

Not all billboards are used for advertising products and service non-profit groups and government agencies use them to communicate with the public normally to obtain donations, volunteer support or to change consumer behaviour.

In 1999 an anonymous person created the God Speaks billboard campaign in Florida "to get people thinking about God", with witty statements signed by God. "Don't make me come down there", "We need to talk" and "Tell the children that I love them" were parts of the campaign, which was picked up by the Outdoor advertising association of America and continues today on billboards across the country.

1900's

In the 1900s, there was a boom in national billboard campaigns. Big advertisers began mass production of billboards for the national market. From toothpaste and soaps, to breakfast cereals and sodas, billboards were made to advertise in big bold pictures and images.

In 1913, the practice of filling "open boards" with public service advertising has continued to this day. During the war, there was a concerted effort from the industry to help in the mobilization. While in peacetime, the concern was focused on efforts to generally improve the way of life.