A Commercial Stickler

Being someone who is selectively OCD (I like straight lines and symmetry when I place my groceries on the conveyor, but my closet is a force to be reckoned with) and a person who just loves great design and typography, I have a bone to pick with certain advertisers and designers when it comes to their recent design choices.

For one, I am a nitpicker for items and text to be centered. Take this new Volkswagen commercial for example.




While inherently hilarious, I mean honestly how can you not laugh at the kid's determined face, the ending is what bothers me to no end (roughly the last 2-3 seconds). My hands clench and I wince in slight discomfort looking at the somewhat off-center "That's Das Auto" tagline. And once the word "That's" disappears, we're left with just "Das Auto" that still looks a little wonky. I have to look away each time the commercial nears it's end to save from screaming in uneasiness.

I might as well be staring at this poster.

View more like this here.

Now I can forgive certain designs that are meant to be off-the-cuff and cutting edge, but when I think of Volkswagen I think of sleek, sophisticated German engineering.While that off-center tagline might have been on purpose, it still felt out of place to me.

The other day I passed a good old fashioned billboard that rattled my practical designer's nerves. This was a combination of unnecessary usage of extra billboard material (add ons) and just poor planning and design layout, in my opinion. While I could not get a shot of said offending billboard seeing as how I was zipping down the interstate at 70 MPH, I decided to make a mock-up.

Instead of the traditional rectangle shape, you will see that there is an added "hump" on the top left. Surely they did this on purpose; but for what reason? I see no added value to the advertisement, nor does it add anything exciting to look at for the advertisee. Now, before I slammed them too much for wasting time and money, I figured the other side of the billboard used that hump in a more resourceful way, and the advert above was simply piggy-backing on just using the extra space. I slowed down once I passed the sign and used my mirrors to look behind me to see. But alas, it was not true, and the advertisers really did add an extra hump for no good reason. Shame.

There is a lot of bad design out there, especially when it comes to advertisements. Let's try and shape it up people. Or risk being ridiculed by a bevy of your peers (i.e. Me).

Be well,