Blog Post #10

After several days, I felt I had finally made some progress on my advertisement designs. I worked on the template given to me and thought I had applied the proper changes to make this "stick out" in a positive way. The most significant change I made from the base template was changing the background color. I used Photoshop to make this change, and I used a shade of deeper purple to enable "the classic Chegg orange" text to pop. The result was an ad that, although looking somewhat basic, stood out because it was clear, simple, and well-designed. These ads will be placed on Chegg's site to promote Chegg Study's new 24-hour service. The example is placed below. I received positive feedback from my manager, who believed the advertisement would meet the desired objective.

If I were designing these advertisements today, I would reflect on Chapter 2: Efficiency, from How Design Makes Us Think. While an elegant ad can be effective, it does not mean much if it is ineffective at delivering your message to your target audience. Efficiency is key, and sometimes, making things simple rather than overly extravagant is more effective, as we expect things to be quick and straightforward today. Since ads constantly bombard viewers, a short, crisp message and a clean design can break through more effectively in a cluttered environment. I had made this advertisement with bold colors, minimal text, and only one sole image, making it simple to understand and easy for the consumer to identify what was being promoted/sold. These changes were consistent with Chegg's brand guidelines and website design.