From Bad to Better

            I realized that I had many options for choosing a bad ad. After cracking open the phone book and flipping through the first half, it seemed that I could redo an ad for just about any type of company you could think of. But, I decided on a car locksmith ad and set to work. First, I chose this because of the terrible logo.  I noticed the rockin’ 90’s car and the blob to it’s left, which, upon closer examination, I decided was a locksmith unlocking the car. The company’s font in the logo was a serif font and seemed too pretty to be associated with car problems. This, I decided was the first thing to go. Also, the oval around the image reminded of a family diner sign. I thought that the logo should be more square or rectangular to seem less “soft.” But, we had to keep the same logo, so this left me frustrated as my idea for a new logo, couldn't be used. Here's the logo I would have liked to use instead:

            The same font that read “Fast Emergency Mobile Service” also needed to be changed. Any emergency I can think of was not this neat and put together. I also thought this was the most important text featured in the ad, but it was underneath other copy, where it wasn’t seen as easily. These words needed a harsher font that was bold and could be spotted initially. I also wanted to redo the logo to express a more modern look and feel and a strong logo with a font that implied that these locksmiths were knowledge and ready to unlock any car.

            Also, though the ad was black and white, I thought that color would help it grab more potential customers attention. I chose yellow because it grabs peoples’ attention well. I choose red because it is associated with emergencies, such as locking your keys in your car.  But, it is also a strong color that is associated with power, like the ability to fix a problem. So, I used these two colors throughout the ad to better communicate what services the company provides. I also thought the original ad lacked unity and I thought by using the same shape and color I could tie all the elements of the ad together more cohesively. I chose a rectangle because sharp corners were more rough and tough than rounded elements. I also used white lines between each part of the ad to draw the eye from one element to the next. Hopefully this ad is more effective than it’s phonebook counterpart!