Evaluation

Product One: Poster• The advertising product I created was a poster and this piece of campaigning is definitely fit for purpose. The poster

has an air of professionalism about it and portrays a clear message as well as giving relevant contact details for the SASH charity. The colour used in the poster fit in with SASH’s pre-existing colour scheme and so readers are able to understand the purpose of the poster easily if they haven’t come across a SASH product before but even easier if they have.

• The message of the poster is clearly laid out. In the top left corner (which for most people in England is the starting point when reading) clearly defines the name of the charity and their slogan accompanying this states the charity’s aim and message, “Preventing Youth Homelessness Together”. As the reader continues down the poster, they will come across a name making the poster seem a lot more personal. An image is then used to make the situation and circumstances easier to imagine for the reader, the reader is then asked if they can help. Finally contact details are given to the reader so they are able to offer or find help if they are able to help or need some help.

• The poster caters to the needs of both of the age groups it is targeting. These groups are the 16-24 year olds that may be homeless and the mid 30’s or older audience that are looking to volunteer themselves as a ‘night stop’ for SASH.

• The poster as a final product ended up better then what I had initially expected. Until a few changes at the end of production to the poster I was not happy with the product. This was because I felt it was a poster that lacked a professional appeal and was not something I could imagine a charity such as SASH would put out. Some of the changes I made included taking the image I had arranged to be the focal point of the poster in my flat plan. The image felt out of place in the poster and did not tie in with colour scheme. Removing this image made the poster look slick and polished. As well as removing the image I made the anecdotal writing of a girl called Megan sleeping on a park bench, easier to read. I did this by using three tools on the sentence, these were : Outer glow, drop shadow and bevel and emboss. Like with removing the picture, making the copy easier to read meant that the poster looked more professional and I am pleased with the way it turned out.

• There is a sparse amount of content on the poster, but what is there, is effective. The use of a name in “Megan” is used to make the poster seem more personal and so, more likely to draw a response from the reader. I feel the image used is also effective, it is no too depressing as to scare off readers but it still portrays the seriousness of the subject matter; youth homelessness. A rhetorical question is also used and again, makes the poster seem more personal by using the word “you”.

• I don’t think the poster will have much of an effect with the public. Not many people stop to look at a poster when walking in the street and like most things if not pushed in the face of the public enough, it will go by unnoticed by the public. If the public consumes information enough they often start to enjoy it and memorize the information.

• In terms of technical qualities bevel & emboss, outer glow and drop shadow have all been used to make the photo easier to read and more aesthetically pleasing for the reader. Rhetorical questions have also been used, as well as this an anecdote about a person preferring a warm bed over a park bench has been personalised by using the name Megan.

Product Two: Leaflet Like my first product my product is fit for purpose. The leaflet offers a wealth of information and gives the reader a clear understanding of SASH’s campaign. Included are addresses and numbers to ring and

the leaflet isn’t too overwhelming as to scare away people who are in need of the service or potential volunteers to the service. The leaflet offers information clearly and concisely. The information inside the leaflet covers all vital points in depth as to leave no question unanswered. To make the copy less daunting the text is split into paragraphs and occasionally sectioned off by dotted white lines when paragraphs aren’t enough and a change of focus is incoming. The front of the leaflet shows that the campaign is offering a positive message with the images looking happy, as well as this the SASH logo and slogan feature on the front and back of the leaflet. This leaves the reader in no doubt as to what the leaflets subject is. If the reader were to have any confusion with the leaflet or perhaps to have have questions unanswered then contact information is provided on the back of the leaflet. This would be the last place to look if the person was to read all of the leaflet and still had unanswered questions.

The leaflet is relevant to my target audience although this may only be a proportion of the pre-planned target. The final leaflet seems to offer more information to potential volunteers rather than those that are actually homeless themselves. Having said this, a homeless youngster may feel encouraged to get in touch after reading the case-study inside the leaflet. However, the rest of the leaflet offers information to potential volunteers offering facts, ways to help and where to get in touch if interested in helping. The leaflets achieved what I set out for them to be like. However, I perhaps could have given more thought as to what content would be in the leaflet. The content in the leaflet potentially excludes those that are actually homeless and this is something that looking back now was an avoidable error. I hadn’t previously set out how I wanted the front cover and back of the leaflet to like, but I am very pleased with the outcome, a professional looking, clear and relaxing front cover and back page.

Turning down the opacity on the front and back cover was a technique wisely used and caused the outcome of a relaxing product which draws in readers rather than push them away. This is obviously very important for the leaflet as the leaflet must not scare of readers who are weighing up the decision whether to volunteer or not. It is also important that people who are homeless themselves looking to contact SASH feel comfortable contacting the charity, these attractive welcoming colours increase this chance. Taking this into account the leaflet is definitely suitable for my target audience. The final product us close enough to what I envisaged in the planning of my product. I used the images I found during the planning stage of my design so this was something that is definitely the same as I planned it. I believe the content I have used in this leaflet design to be very effective. All the important information including how to contact SASH is stated clearly on the design. This minimizes any potential hesitation and makes the leaflet fit for purpose and suitable for its target audience. Another thing I did to make the leaflet suitable for its audience was to add a sense of personalization to it. I did this by creating “Will’s story”, I made sure the story ended in success and it had a ‘quote’ from Will. Once again I decided this would be a good way to ‘reach out’ to an individual who is homeless or knows of someone that is. It stops the leaflet just being a list of statistics and calling the individual by their name gives the impression that the charity really care about the welfare of Will and have gotten to know him well in the process of helping him. This makes the charity a more attractive proposition to an individual. By showcasing a success story and personalizing it, the charity increases the chance of someone donating. Parents of children may feel engaged by the personal touch to the leaflet and because of this have the urge to donate as they wouldn’t want to see their own child in the same position.

Aesthetically I feel the leaflet – inside especially – leaves a lot to be desired. Although the readability on the inside of the leaflet is very good and should leave the reader in no confusion into what they are reading about, it is too plain in my opinion. To improve this matter I could have perhaps done something similar to the front cover. I could have put an image In the background to add a new depth to the inside of the leaflet and I could have put it on a low opacity so the readability would not be affected. However thinking of it differently their needs to be clear differentiation between the front and inside of the leaflet and the inside information needs to as clear as possible. The front cover is slightly more aesthetically pleasing than the front, a low opacity front is very relaxing which ties in with the pictures used and what I wanted them to signify, relaxed teenagers feeling comfortable and relieved to be off the streets. In terms of aesthetic qualities nothing that difficult was done to my leaflet, perhaps I could administered some technical qualities to the inside of my leaflet to make it a more attractive proposition.

Product 3: StickerThe advertising campaign administered through this sticker is fit for purpose. The colour scheme matches in with SASH’S colour scheme. The few words used promote the cause they are involved with and offers relevant contact details. This is done in a a clear way, with none of the text clustered. The sticker has turned out as planned which I am very pleased with and looks very professional. Some of the technical qualities include the use of a stroke which makes the sticker look a lot more slick and easier to read. The strokes around the sticker works well as a border and makes the features in the sticker stand out more and look increasing defined.

The content is clear and as a result effective. There are not a lot of words used on the sticker and as a result the words that do remain have a more powerful effect as a result of this. The image used obviously ties in with the subject and the colour of the house matches in with the colour of the text. This makes the sticker easier to read and it stands out on the product.

With this clear readability in mind and the only the the most important information stated concisely the reader is left in no doubt of the message of the sticker and because of this the content becomes very effective. This effectiveness is increased by the typographical hierarchy used in the sticker. Upon asking the opinion of an independent peer regarding the typographical hierarchy if the sticker, he stated that the first thing he encountered on was the name of the charity SASH. This is good as it implants the name of the company in someone's mind whether it be consciously from reading the sticker and wanting to help or sub consciously from walking past the sticker in a rush and only having time to take in this information. Following this his eyes were drawn to the contact information at the bottom, however in the split second he couldn’t make out what it said, his eyes moved target to the words “preventing youth homelessness together and the picture of the house. After this he moved back to the contact information for longer look and then a split second more than immediately he was able to read the information at this point of the sticker. My peer said his eyes were drawn to the contact information after the large letters of SASH due to to the border surrounding it, making for an attractive aesthetic look. Although these points suggest that I either should have taken the stroke of the letters or changed the font for this extract of information in general. However looking at differently, if the information at the bottom does momentarily confuse the reader then it will make them concentrate more and actively read and consume the information giving a greater chance to word of mouth spreading.

The final product finished better than I had originally planned. This was because I added things during the production that weren’t previously thought of by myself. The stroke in particular gives the sticker so much more definition and really brings out the copy on the sticker. This was the first time I had come across the stroke function and is definitely something I find worthwhile and because of this I will most likely be looking to use it in future projects. Due to this factor the style feature was definitely the most effective technique I used on this project. The margins I manually added either side of the contact information was also an effective technical quality I used. I felt it would draw consumers attention to this important part of the sticker, this clearly worked judging by the reaction of my peer to the typographical hierarchy. As well as this it separates the slogan and picture from the important factual information.

I think the sticker advertising SASH will have a positive effect on the campaign of preventing youth homelessness. This will be done by the sticker increasing awareness of the problem that is youth homelessness, as well as increasing the awareness that there are ways to resolve it This increase in awareness could lead to an increase in volunteers for the charity as night-stops. As well as this more people may feel inclined to donate to the charity, thirdly it could lead to more homeless teenagers coming forward and seeking help from knowledgeable people who will give proper care and support and try to resolve issues, rather than sofa surfing at friends houses.

The main technical qualities and aesthetic qualities cover the same two details: the stroke and the dotted lines. This was my first time using the stroke and it proved to be very effective, as I have previously stated it gives the sticker more defined, making words stand out more significantly. This in turn left to a number of positives for the sticker: The content becomes effective, the the message is communicated clearly and the advert becomes fit for purpose. The other technical quality is my dotted line which also adds up as an aesthetic quality because as previously stated it separates the slogan from the factual content and helps make the contact information more prevalent in the typographical hierarchy.