When I think of advertisements for businesses or services, I generally think of them in two categories: a singular, one-off ad that is promoting a sale or event, and then an ad campaign, which promotes a special product or event with a series of ads that correlate with one another. Of course, it doesn’t have to fit into these two categories, but these are the main ones I’ve seen.
When creating the logo for a fictional rage room company (see previous post for more details), I quickly realized that it was much more than just creating a logo. The company has to have a whole identity, and each aspect has to be thoroughly executed. There needs to be a reason for using the color red, or for utilizing a sans serif font. Coincidence is uncommon.
During my creative process for developing the logo, I wrote down several idioms and phrases that are related to anger.
I immediately thought that this would make a great ad campaign; having a series of ads that highlight each of the most common idioms. I decided to try it with one to see what I could come up with- go ballistic.
Robin Landa, author of Graphic Design Solutions, simplifies what an advertisement should do: create visual interest, communicate a clear message, and motivate people/raise awareness. Some of the best ads in the world are quite simple and do not overwhelm the viewer. As it is, you have just a couple of seconds to make a lasting impression.
I wanted to stick with the black, white, and red color palette of the logo to create consistency and also retain the emotion. The broken t is a symbol of the business, and I wanted to bring that into the ad. I also started brainstorming other elements I could weave in to signify that this is for rage rooms. After watching videos of people enjoying rage rooms, the most common items that people destroyed were plates, glass, and electronics. I didn’t have any pictures of my own of broken glass or plates, so I attempted to recreate them. I first tried broken plates, but I couldn’t get the shadowing and detail correct, so I moved on to the broken glass.
I made it look like someone took a baseball bat and hit the middle, leaving a ragged hole and cracked lines. I increased the transparency so that it blended more with the background and did not overtake the composition. Keeping in line with the logo, I wanted to use a sans-serif font. However, I didn’t want to use the same font because I wanted the logo to be its own separate entity. I stuck with something simple yet bold.
Starting with a strong verb such as go is a call to action that most people respond to. Go do this, go away, go find this, are all common phrases that we hear every day and respond to with little hesitation. It’s forceful and usually pushes people to do something.
If I were to keep going with this ad campaign, I would use the same font and color scheme, but change the background image to broken plates, smashed computers, someone swinging a baseball bat, etc. Simplicity is vital and keeping interest with intriguing imagery is also crucial. If you can get someone to look forward to seeing what other ads you are going to put out, then you have won the marketing lottery.
References:
Landa, R. (2019). Graphic design solutions (6th ed.). Cengage.
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