Y2 DGP18203 Images that Persuade (advertising) 19-20
For this project, I will be creating a brochure and two posters particularly focussing on the National Trust.
British Heritage Sites
A historic or heritage site is an official location that is preserved for its cultural heritage value. There are 32 World Heritage Sites in the UK and its territories, the first seven were listed in 1987. The sites include The English Lake District and the Giants Causeway. They preserve political, military, cultural and social history. People usually associate heritage sites with just the countryside and nature. However, many sites are of architecture importance. Most of the city of Bath in Somerset is owned by the National Trust, as it contains numerous Roman remains.
These sites attract many visitors because of their natural and man-made beauty as well and their historical importance. In 2015, 40 million people visited these sites, that is three-quarters of the UK's population. It is important that people visit these sites as they are managed and maintained by public donations, admission fees and memberships as-well as funding from the government and private donors. Without the public visiting and returning to view heritage sites, the National Trust would not be able to ensure that the sites remained in the same condition. For this reason, advertising is important, reminding people of the sites and events run at many of them.
The National Trust
The National Trust is Europe’s largest conservation charity. It is celebrating its 125-year anniversary this year. It was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley. The trust aims to save important sites and open them to the public for everyone to enjoy. They now care for at least 780 miles of coastline, 250,000 hectares of land, 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens and nearly 1 million works of art. Anything that holds cultural or historical value in Britain is important to the trust.
In 2017 they reached 5 million members, a huge increase from the 278 thousand members that they had in 1970 when they began their records.
In 2017 The National Trust’s paid entry sites saw 24.5 million visitors while the free sites such as beaches had an estimated 200 million visitors with the Giants Causeway seeing the most with 665,681 visits.
The National Trusts most frequent visitors are families and adults. They hold many opportunities such as holding events for children and families like fun runs and bug hunts. They also host wedding receptions, corporate events, art exhibitions and some even hold outdoor theatre productions.
The National Trust's advertising campaigns
When it comes to advertising the National Trust tend to stick to quite traditional approach, showing beautiful countryside or photos of their sites. Their main target audience are families so billboards often show families enjoying a National Trust owned space. These work when targeting families but don't particularly attract young people.
The billboard above shows a family sitting on some rocks looking over the Yorkshire Dales on a bright, clear day, with smiles on their faces. This will attract families as the scenery looks amazing and they want to have a nice day out in the sun, just like the family in the photograph.
As I am shooting over the winter it will be difficult to produce images like this as the weather at the moment is dull and rainy so I will try to find a way to use this to my advantage, creating something that would be different for the National Trust while still making the sites look attractive to visit.
This advert also plays on the TV adverts that are on billboards with the line 'Fancy trying our version of freeview?' Instead of the television version of freeview, these posters are promoting the views seen in nature that make you feel free. This also suggests that a lot of National Trust sites, the Yorkshire Dales included, are free to visit and enjoy.
This technique bring the campaigns up to date, using modern tag lines and images.
The National Trust, as well as other heritage organisations also now use websites like Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with modern society and to connect to as many people as possible, especially they younger audiences who tend to use social media.
The screenshots above of there social media accounts show how many people they reach through these sites. 876k on Twitter and 808k on Facebook. The Facebook, as you can see, shares funny images such as the man shaped carrot as well as information about upcoming events. What you can't see from the images above is that the cover photo (of the pink blossom) on the Facebook account is actually a video. Video is another technique they have used to appeal to a wider audience.
They also have a YouTube account as seen above. On here they share videos about events, promoting their sites and also factual and beautiful videos of nature. Titles include 'Spring is in full bloom with a dazzling display of tulips - Slow TV from the National Trust' and 'How to make compost - With National Trust Gardens Training Specialist Kate Nicoll.'
The billboard advert above has taken a slightly different approach by showing just a child having fun in the mud at a National Trust site. A lot of National Trust adverts show more of the landscape so this one is different as it is up close to the model and quite personal, even saying it is 'fun day out' and 'special to Freddie Gibbs, aged 4.'
The advertising also play on the iconic logo that you see all over the world 'I (heart shape) NY' but instead saying 'I (National Trust logo) muddy days' as-well as over slogans.
The bright colours against the dark mud makes the boy and the image stand out and children will ask their parents to go after seeing this as it shows a child doing something fun that they probably wont usually be allowed to do, so it plays on a child's rebellious side.
As well as attracting children this advert will also attract adults as parents want they're children to be having fun like the boy in the photo and also if it is attracting children to the sites it will also attract the parents as the child can not go on his own.
This campaign for the National Trust is called 'BETTERSHADE.' It aims to encourage children to get out into the countryside and explore the sites but also their imagination. The images show children having fun in the countryside and are shot in a different style than other campaigns for the National Trust. They look as if they could have been taken by a family on a day out rather than a professional photographer, making the images more personal and realistic. This set of images are also accompanied by text in a fun child-like font that shows what the children might be thinking and showing how the imagination of a child can run wild out in the countryside.
The tagline 'there is no better shade than a tree' suggests that, even on a wet day, it is still better to be outside under a tree than in your homes.
It is successful as a lot of adults and parents believe that the things were more fun before phones and technology and how children don't play outside like they used to. These images play on that and will make parents want to go to National Trust sites to get their children to experience the outdoors and use their imagination more than their phones.
This shoot, particularly the image above, which has text telling you about the campaign, is styled in a vintage way so it will remind adults of their childhood and encourage them to bring their families out and enjoy a day like they would have as children.
The 'BETTERSHADE' campaign was created by 'Nomeski Design,' an artist and designer who graduated from the London College of Communication in 2014 with a first class honours in Graphic and Media design and went on to win the D&AD New Blood Awards the same year.
Nomeski Design, who's real name is Naomi Edmondson, specialises in graphics and illustration and creates child-like work that is bright and has a hand drawn look to it. This fits with the campaign as it shows children in a documentary style and is about having fun and imagination. Edmondson's work gives the images a more fun feel by designing typography that looks like it could have been written by a child, her typography also gives a more personal feel to the week as it looks like the billboards could be a page from a families scrapbook.
Edmondson also knows how to attract peoples attention with big pieces on public walls as she is know for her large street art and mural pieces, shown in the first image of the four above.
My ideas
For this project I want to advertise the National Trust to a teenage and millennial audience by creating something that is beautiful and shows of the amazing landscapes while being different and artistic. I plan to use bright colours and mystical theme to appeal to these younger people. I will use models of the age of this audience and use the human body by intertwining it with nature.
This will appeal particularly with young creatives as my work will be similar to what they are seeing in art galleries and from creators they follow. The human body is widely used in art and combining the beauty of nature and the body will bring the two together in a visually pleasing and artistic way.
Artist Research
David Uzochukwu
Growing up in Austria, Luxembourg, and Belgium, he delved into self portraiture early on.
Uzochukwu developed a digital practice, focussing on being othered, vulnerability, and the slightly surreal.
Often, his subjects are reflected in - or merge with - the nature that surrounds them. Lone introspection and devotion to something larger than themselves exist simultaneously.
He has collaborated with artists like Little Dragons, FKA twigs and Pharrell, been comissioned by Nike, Dior, and Hermès, and has exhibited at Bozar, Photo Vogue Festival, and Lagos Photo Festival. He is now working towards his first degree in Philosophy at HU Berlin.
Uzochukwa's work inspires me as he often shoots in natural environments using models of the age if my target audience. He also makes the models bodies look as if they could be part of the landscape. He also uses models of different ethnicities and genders in his work, which is something I wish to do as younger creatives like to see diversity in work.
cvatik
Cvatik is an Instagram photographer who has little information about them online other than their Instagram bio which reads 'Святослав Гиндлер - some nerd with a camera in New Jersey.'
Their work is similar to the work of Uzochukwa as it involves nature and models. Both photographers use dark and dull colours which I would like to replicate in my work, especially as the weather may not be so bright at this time of the year.
Cvatik's work has a mystical feel to it, where the models almost look like elves or fairies rather and humans and you get the feeling they belong in the environment. This is done by matching the skin colour, hair colour and styling with the environment and by having them close to the nature, for example, in the water, on the ground or leaning against a tree.
Charlie Waite
Born in 1949, Waite worked in British Theatre and Television for the first 10 years of his professional life. During this time his interest in theatrical lighting and design developed and lead him to leave his acting career behind to become a landscape photographer, capturing how it can be revealed to us through light.
Waite photography has a unique, spiritual quality, showing serenity and calmness in nature. This approach has allowed his to establish a worldwide reputation and his photography is now held in private and corporate collections throughout the world. He has also held one-man exhibitions all over the world including London, Sydney, Tokyo, and New York.
His work has seen him awarded a Direct Fellowship by The Royal Photographic Society, the prestigious honorary fellowship to the British Institute of Professional Photographers and the Amateur Photography’s Power of Photography award.
The use of natural light and colours in Waite's work gives the landscapes shown a sense of power and importance. Also, in the photos shown above, as well as many more of his photos, the sky is a major part of the image, using wispy clouds, blue colours or silhouettes of trees against the sky. This is something I would like to show in my work. The sky can be used to add depth to the image and can divide the photo down the middle.
Mood Board
My Idea
Test Shoot 1
For this test shoot I wanted a model with ginger hair as the weather outside was dull with brown and red dead leaves as the only bright colour. I wanted the model to merge with the surroundings and his red hair would be similar in colour to the leaves and bark.
For this shoot I chose the location of Mudchute farm. Although it is in the city it consists of large open fields and also woodland.
I placed the model very close to the leaves in order to make him appear part of the environment. I also chose to style him in a dull coloured shirt with some red and brown tones to add to the affect.
I then used Capture One and Photoshop to retouch the images, matching the colours even more and also brightening the images. I then enhanced his freckles so he would look more like the model I would use for my final images. The retouching also gave the images a more mystical style, similar to the ones in my research.
Above are two of the images before and after retouching. I used a mount flash to light the model for this shoot as it was dark. This caused the model to have red eyes so I also had to remove this in post.
From this shoot I learnt that I should try to shoot when there is more light to avoid using flash.
Test Shoot 2
I shot the model during the day this time so that we could use natural lighting. This time blossom had began to appear on the trees so I used this to add to the beauty and mystical affect of the photographs. The bokeh created by the sun light shining through the leaves and blossom and the shallow focus on the model, blurring out the background also added to this.
Test Shoot 3
I knew that within my images I wanted some of a model floating in a lily pond. After considering a real pond I decided the risk assessment for this would be huge due to the temperature outside during the winter and also the risk of deep water and drowning.
In the end I decided to shoot the model in a bath tub surrounded by fake lily pads as then I could control the temperature and depth of the water and eliminate the risks of using a natural pond. The water would also be safer as it will be clean.
The first issue I found was that the water was too clear to look like pond water and the bottom of the bath tub was showing. To overcome this issue I added lots of food colouring to the water so that it was darker and gave the affect of deeper water.
The second issue was that I couldn't get the affect of a larger pond in one photo as the edges of the bath could be seen. So to get the desired affect I decided to shoot the model from above in the bath and then just lilies in the bath and then merge the images to look like one big pond in post. Another issue I had to overcome in post was that the model was too large to fit in the bath so I had to shoot there top half and lower half separately and then put them together in post. To make this easier I covered the middle half of his body with lilies so to hide the join of the two images.
Above you can see how I put the photos together to create the final images. The outcome wasn't as good as I had hoped as the perspective was wrong as all images were taken from the same angle. If I had photographed a real pond then the pond around the model would have been slightly smaller and fading into the distance but due to the side of the bath and the limited space I couldn't do this.
Another issue I had was with the overlapping of the lily pads. This caused some weird shadows and I think you can almost tell where one photo ends and the next starts.
I did get close up images that I was more happy with so if I try to do this again I will shoot in a pool or bigger body of water so that I can photograph the whole image in one take.
Lighting
All my shoots would be naturally lit apart from the lily pond one. You can use the sun in various ways. For example, you get different light at sunrise, in the day and sunset as well as on cloudy days and bright days.
At sunrise the sky and lighting is often hazy and blue or grey and sometimes quite bright. This can make for a beautiful, moody image and I would have used this time of day to shoot the shoot with Ben shoot. (below is an example of a shot at sunrise.)
I would have shot the other shots on a mixture of bright and cloudy days. The sunny shots would create beams through the trees and well lit images where as the cloudy day shots would be moodier.
I would position the model so that the light is shining on the part of the body I am photographing so that they were cleanly lit and to create dark shadows behind them and on the body. (as seen in the Jonas shots.)
The lily shots would be lit from above and to one side to simulate sunlight and create dark shadows under the lilies and models. I would use one light with a softbox to do this.
Lighting Diagram
Job Estimate and Invoice
COVID19
Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus I had to flee from London back to my home in Manchester with my family. This meant that as well as not having all my kit with me I was also unable to do my final shoots and proceed with my project how I had hoped to. I hadn't began my final shoots as I was focusing on a different brief which had an earlier deadline and was then going to put all my time into this project.
I shall now explain my ideas in more depth and describe what I had planned for the project. Also, due to university being shut I am unable to gain access to the learning support sessions and help I usually get some a lot of my writing will not be up to the same standard as usual and I may also get confused about layouts, briefs and hand in as I won't have the people supporting me and helping me get everything right.
Jonas Shoot
Before the official lockdown was announced I did manage to fit in a shoot in the peak district. I shot Jonas against the rocks of the hill, in all black so not to stand out from the dull tones of the rock. I asked him to pose in unnatural, rigid poses so that him and his surroundings blend together.
The blue skies and green grass on this day added some bright colours that contrast the rock and make the images stand out more. I was also lucky to get bright sunlight which nicely lit the model.
I like this images as the contrast of the blue and the rock and the dark shadows add a lot of depth to the photographs. I also shot Jonas with a country landscape in the background to show more of the surroundings and what the National Trust has to offer. I tried to line the models body up with the horizon and play with the lines and shapes the body and view created.
While out shooting with Jonas I also took some landscape and nature shots to compliment my model shots and also to add to the amount of images I had to chose from, knowing I may not to be able to shoot again.
While shooting these images i kept the style and mood of the images the same, capturing the natural beauty of the peaks. I also show some closeups of trees and plants in my garden and the local park.
I also tried to capture the natural lines that nature creates where the horizon separates the sky and the land. This creates a more abstract image with bright solid colour and natural textures.
Jun Shoot
For this shoot I planned to shoot I planned to shoot model Junayd Khan (Jun). I have shot with Jun several times and he has also modelled for several fashion brands, even having images of him in a Vogue look-book.
I planned to shoot him on the beaches and coastland of Southend and Leigh-on-sea. I would style him in just white shorts and in some shots added an unbuttoned white shirt. Jun had the write body for the shoot as he is quite slim and his spine and shoulder blades would create shape and shadows. Also, due to his Pakistani and Greek heritage his skin colour is similar to the sandy tones of the beaches and marshland in Leigh-on-sea.
Below is an example of the kind of images I would have created of Jun.
Ben Shoot
For this shoot in a pine forrest at Hughenden in Buckinghamshire. A 680 acre estate with native beach woodlands and chalk valleys.
Benjamin Zegerius is a model with a lot of experience, modelling for brands such as Society Club and Maison Valentino.
His long curly, brown hair and the brown curly sticks of the dense forrest would go well together. It is also similar to the long grass in the fields on the estate. I planned to use a straw sac type material to rap around Ben's waist with a rope belt. This would further merge him with the nature. The images would have looked similar to the ones below.
I also would have done the lily pond shots with Bed as his hair would have floated nicely in the water. For this I had got permission to shoot in the pool at the complex where I live. These photos would have been whole body shots of him surrounded by lily pads.
Jordan Shoot
Jordan Bautista is a model and dancer and I was going to shoot him within the rocks of the peak district, similar to the shots with Jonas. His skinny to toned body has the rigidness of the rocks and he would have worked very well for this shoot. The images would have looked similar to the ones below.
Although I didn't get to shoot in all the locations I wanted and with models I would have used I was still happy with the outcome of the images I did manage to get and believe they show the kind of photos I was after.
Stylists and Makeup Artist
Although the shots didn't require much styling and makeup professional stylists and makeup artist Sabrina and Kalila had agreed to assist on the shoots and provide the clothes and makeup for the models.
They are my go to stylists as I know them well and have worked with them both numerous times and we have always worked well together. The makeup would have been very simple, natural makeup to avoid shine.
My Layouts
I originally tried the model shots for my posters as I felt they are the most interesting and strong images. I tried various combinations of large and small photos. My favourite is the last of the four above as the big photo shows the background of the National Trust and how humans and nature together. The five small images are similar in composition with a line through the centre of each, bringing the five together. The last small photo also merges with the large photo with the rock. I also tried to make all the small photos of rigid shapes like trees and fences to match the rocky terrain.
I decided to use more traditional National Trust style shots of landscapes and nature for my posters in the end. This was due to not being able to shoot as many model shots as I needed. I struggled to find enough smaller photos for the posters, also due to not being able to shoot as much as I wanted. In the end I was reasonably happy with the outcome.
I chose this photo as my big one as it is moody and the hazy sky makes for a clean, plain background, framing the foreground. The turret in the middle makes a nice focal point and the line down the middle of the horizon creates a contemporary image.
The small images in the first version match the colours and mood of the main image and show a variety of closeups and landscapes. Apart from the fourth photo, where the sky was too bright and looked out of place.
I then changed the first image from a close up of a sign to a landscape shot of Manchester, showing off the beautiful views the National Trust has to offer. I felt this image was more powerful and better suited the darker mood of the poster.
For this poster I played with shapes and lines that the landscape created. I chose the main image as the sandy tones of the grass contrasted the bright blue of the sky and the orange coat of the walker. It also left space for the smaller images. It also shows one of the activities that you can do in the National Trust sites of walking.
I wanted the small images to form the shape of the hill by matching up the horizon on each photo.
I felt the images in the first draft didn't line up quite right and were all too different in colour to the main image. I then changed them so that the slope in the first image goes up then the top of the hill moves across through the image, gradually inclining from left to right.
This second version was good but I thought the second and fourth image had different sky colours to the rest of the image due to different effects in post and also being shot in different times of day. Also, the second image showed the same man but on top of a hill.
I changed the second image so to give the images more variety and also to match the sky colours better. I then retouched the fourth image again so that the sky colour matched the rest of the images. This is my favourite of the posters and the bright skies compliment the darker skies of the first poster.
I chose these images for my portrait posters as again they are similar to the more traditional National Trust posters. The first is bright and shows the beauty of the National Trust with the bright blossom of the Magnolia and a combination of complimenting bright close up and landscape shots.
These posters, like the landscape ones, consist of one brighter poster and one that is more moody so they would all looked good together or on their own.
I used the model shots for the leaflet and I feel they show well what my final outcomes would have been had I been able to shoot properly. I chose the image on the cliff for the front cover as it is a powerful image that brings the nature and model together. I then chose the best images from each shoot for the other shoots while still keeping variety.
The lily photo fits nicely over the gutter of the long image as not important information is lost in the fold.
I cut out the surrounding lily pads as they weren't as well cut together as the full body of the model.
