Citibank

Citibank, one of the most famous banks in the U.S. has more than 160 retail banking throughout the States. Besides its prominent fame, Citibank has also been known for its iconic logo. Created in June 1998, its designer Paula Scher, designed it for the first time on a napkin. It’s astonishing how creativity comes in the most unexpected ways, like this logo, it started off as a sketch on a napkin and turned out to be a widely well recognized logo in the banking industry. At the time it was created, Citibank, also known as Citigroup in that time, had recently shortened its name to ‘Citi’ and had just made a $140 billion merging companies with Travelers Group. As a new corporation, like any other, they needed a new corporate identity and that’s where Paula Scher stepped in. What they were looking for was a way to demonstrate the combination of these two groups and how now they were a whole. Travelers Group was identifiable due to its red umbrella in its logo and Citibank was just a very simple text with a blue background.

What they wanted was a shortened yet easy brand mark that would fit well with the new concept. The end result was the four letter word Citi with a red arc centered right above the‘t’. From the original design, they practically kept the blue and the red, but with a different typeface and the integrated umbrella that interacts with the text. This design not only made it a very simple recognizable logo, but it embodied what they what had in mind; portraying the combined businesses.

Shortening the name to just 'Citi' was a very good idea because this makes it a very simple logo to remember and identify. The arch on the 't' is very good as well because it portrays the umbrella of the other companies logo; this demonstrates that they are now one. A suggestion would be to make the blue a bit lighter. That way the blue and the red have the same value and neither of them compete with each other. Lastly would be kerning because a few letters seem a bit too close and not equally spaced. Adjusting the space between the letters would make it uniformed and visual pleasing. 

Just a Simple Shaving Cream

The suggestion for this one would be to change the whole design. Change the colors, pick two different fonts and stick with them, remove the italics, and remove the semi circle that's in the center of the bottle. The whole design isn't very attractive and the red is just to strong. It'll look better by removing the red and yellow and applying a light value of green with a medium intensity. This will bring more attention to the product and would allow people to make a connection to freshness; e.g: the freshness one would get after a shave. Keep the black for sure, the contrast between these two colors will create make the can look striking and grasp the publics eye. For the font, the suggestion is to stick to two or one if possible. Too many fonts create a distraction and doesn't go well with each other. Repetition creates unity, so the less different fonts the better. Maybe a Helvetica or any other san sharifs type face would look better than all those randoms. Lastly would be to resize the the font because this will create a hierarchy between the name of the product and the brand. Having them all equal sizes makes it seem too basic and it doesn't allow people to distinguish between both. Leaving the word "value size" as it is would be good but everything would look better with the suggestions above. 

EDC!

EDC, also known as Electric Daisy Carnival, is one of the largest music festivals founded by Insomniac Events. Its a three day event that holds up to 400,000 people a weekend, which is approximately 134,000 each day. This festival is known for its vast edm genres and for its broad selection of djs. People from all over the States attend this festival, to dance, sing, and coexist with each other under the electric sky.

This logo is one of the most recognizable logos there is in the electronic dance culture. Besides being one of the most known, this is one of the logos that carries the most symbolism. The hooked letters stand for the connection the audience has with each other and how in every event they all come together in one same spot. The daisies with the audio jack as stems symbolize the common love every headliner has for the music. It stands for the purity of their love and how each of them share that with each other. The bright colors on the daisies represent the neon lights and that all the right colors the headliners use to attend the events.

Aesthetically, the design is very well crafted. The way they combined all these symbolisms to create one whole logo was very smart. A suggestion would be to change the font to something more legible. The font goes great with what they're trying to demonstrate, which is a friendly/fun font, but when the letter 'd' connects with the 'c' the 'd' looses its ascender due to the roundness given. With the short ascender it's difficult to distinguish if it's a 'd' or an 'o'. Another thing would be to remove the gradient applied to the letters 'Edc'. It would be best to apply one single color to maintain a color unity, that way the darker shade doesn't blend in with the dark background. Lastly would be to lower the words 'electric daisy carnival' so that the letters 'Edc' have equal space from top to bottom. Lowering just a few centimeters would allow the letters to have more space and it would look less cluttered. Other than that, everything else is great. 

Cherry Blossom

Bath & Body Works is one of the most popular skin care products there are in the U.S. From its floral scents to citric aromas, Bath & Body Works has it all. Best suggestion to improve their products would be by changing the form of the bottle. Its shape is very nice but it would be better to give it a few more curves, mostly around the sides. By curving the sides it would not only look leaner, but it would also allow the consumer to have a better grip in their hand. Another would be to change the surface of the sticker or change the location of the sticker so the bottle can have a better frictioned surface. That way when grabbing the bottle it doesnt slip out your hand when wet. Same thing applies to the lotion, changing the location of the sticker will allow one to come in better contact with the bottle and not lose the grip. Maybe placing the sticker inside the bottle would be better, this will not only allow a better grip but it also economizes the stickers as well. Meaning that instead of using two, one for the front and back, they would only apply one that would serve for both. Laslty would be the text, the boldness on the word "blossom" is very nice and due to that boldness its very hard to acknoledge the silver lettering of the name of the company. Silver color is very pretty but its not good for people with poor vision. Changing the colorof the font would be much better and would actually create this sense of wholeness that would complete the entire design. It would emphasize the name of the company and allow people to see it more clearly. Beside that, everything else is fine.

Wonder Lip Paint

Wonder Lip Paint is a high pigmanted lip stain that only requires a dime sized amount to paint your lips. The design is nice, its simple and very basic for a lip stain. The suggestion is to change the form the packaging. Like said before its pretty basic so its not as capitivating as other lip glosses and lip sticks. Since it's a lip stain, which means it's not a lip gloss nor lipstick, it would be a good idea to create a different packaging, something more attractive and different that would help people distinguish this product from others. It's understandable that this design was made for an easy applicaation but it's to simple. It would be nice to see the lip stain in a clear bottle to show off its consistancy and its bright colors. Once changing the bottle, it would be a good idea to change the text as well. Leaving the logo is fine but changing the font and the aligment of the text would be better. Putting the name horizontally, removing the stars, and changing the font would not only go better with the new packaging but it would also make it look more interesting. 

Environmental Goodness

Tom's of main is a very good product. Like said in the title, it's an enviromental goodness. They don't test on animals neither use animal ingredients. They have no artificial colors, fragrances nor perservatives. It's an all natural deordorant whose package is made from recycled materials. Like shown in the image above, its packaging is white, with blue font, and shapes. For an enviromental product, staying simple is ideal because the whole point is to show that the product is completely natural.

Production wise it's very good, the soft rounded edges promote this notion of naturality. Unlike if it were sharp and squared, it would completely give off another feeling. A better way to imporve the packaging would be by changing the white surrounding to a soft beige. This would appear more ecological and have a greater link to their use of natural products. Another improvement would be changing the blue to a green. The color green will enfisize their important information and attract the viewers attention to the most important areas. Green allows things to appear more natural and pleasant so by using green instead of blue, they not only advertise that their product is completly natural but they also give the understanding that their main goal is to be enviromental friendly. When it comes the text, the best way to reinforce it would be by inlargling the word "natural." If they want people to know that the product is natural, its best if they made it a bit larger for the viewers to see. Lastly, it's best if they kept an aligned sequence when it comes to their words. For example, if they moved the word "24 hr ordor protection" slightly to the left as well as the word "wild lavender" they would create an aligned unity with the bottom text that says "net wt 64g..." This will create an aligned layout and it will appear much more organized.

Pretty in Pink

Victoria's Secret is one of the most popular American brands world wide. It's distinctive lingerie, beauty products, and women's wear is what categorizes Victoria's Secret as one of the most glamourous leading brands.

The thing that distinguishes Victoria's Secret from other lingerie brands is their packaging. Their stripped bags with silk handles is one of the landmarks of Victoria's Secret. Anyone can see it from a mile away and rapidily acknowledge that the package is from Victoria's Secret.

As a matter of fact, their packaging selection is very good. If you take a closer to look to their products, you'll quickly notice that most of the things include patterns, glitter, and glamourous designs, so keeping the packaging simple not only creates unity with the rest products, but it's also not overwhelming.

The color selection is very good as well. Pink has always been related to girls, as they say, "it's a girly color" and selecting this color for their bags is very thoughtful because that's basically what the whole store is about, a femanen collection. Keeping in mind that their main audience are females, a glossy bag and silky handle makes a great connection. Majority of women like pink, shiny products, and fancy like cloths, so combining all these not only fits in the taste of their audience but it also fits in their philosophy, "Go luxe. Be gorgeous. Be glamourous."

My suggestion is to increase the font on the bag, although the bag makes it clear where product is from, it would be a good idea to make it a little bigger. Changing the color of the font would be a good improvement as well. The gold color on the font combines very well with what they are trying to promote, but it's a bit difficult to see. Maybe adding a darker value or making the font matte would help the viewers read it easily. The stripes are a little wide as well, decreasing the width would not only make the font more legible, but it would also effisize the name greatly. It's a very nice bag, but these simple solutions could be effective.

Resource: https://www.victoriassecret.com/CustomerService/Company/AboutUs

The AHF Billboard

This billboard comes from AHF, Aids Healthcare Foundation. They are a nonprofit provider for HIV prevention, testing, and healthcare. Their billboard is basically a picture of a wiener dog in a hot dog bun, in which contains the following statement, “Check Your Wiener!” Like this advertisement there are plenty of more throughout the city advocating the prevention of HIV. What is good about this billboard is that apart from being informative it’s also humorous. It was funny how they used double entendre to convey the message; by using the word wiener they are prudently referring to something else other than the dog. Although it has its comical side, the advertisement is very serious as well. The reason they are putting up these ads is to inform people that they offer free STD checkups. Talking about these types of check ups is very controversial, but the idea of displaying it this way is more public friendly.

Aesthetically, they have done a very good job. The design of the star burst behind the dog creates a lot of emphasize on the dog making viewers pay more attention to the advertisement. The text on the dog combines greatly to how they are delivering the message. The message, “Check Your Wiener!” is supposed to be comical in a way and the text portrays that very well. The way they displayed the website on the bottom is very good too because instead of adding color to the font (which would have created a distraction) they left it black. This not only stabilizes the layout, but it creates a color balance. Leaving the websites text the same size as the message’s text was also a good idea because it gives us the understanding that both have equal importance and neither of them overpowers each other. By bolding the word STD on the website they let the audience know what the message is about and they highlight the website as well.

Overall, it is a good design because the message is direct yet humorous rather than offensive. Talking about STD's is quite embarrassing for some people, but by displaying the message this way it not only releases that stress, but it also makes it less uncomfortable for people. The advertisement layout is very good, the font, the colors used, and the image complements the entire message very well.

Lets Share a Coke

Coca-Cola has been around since the year 1886 and until this day it has been one of the most popular soft drinks world wide. Over the years, it has created a landmark not only in the history of soft drinks but in advertising as well. Coca-Cola, aside from its distinctive shape and bubbly taste, it is well known for its curvy script that no other brand has. Surprisingly the script was designed exclusively for the drink in which it is still used today.

Advertising plays a big role in the growth and development of Coca-Cola. Throughout the time, coke has created this notion of always being part of the fun times with family and friends and ever since then, coke has been advertised that way. An example can be the commercial of the Polar Bears that comes out around Christmas time; the Polar bears are shown in a family setting sharing a coke with each other or with Santa. To go even further, acknowledge picture above, it says, "Share a Coke with Jess."  Like this bottle, there are plenty of more in stores with a variety of names, from Jess to Brittany, Mark, Ashley, and even words like BFF, family, and superstar. This form of advertising not only catches peoples attention, but it creates mass of purchases. Aside from its purchasing function, its main purpose is for people to share and publicize the coke itself. Nowadays social media plays a big role in our society, people take pictures of places they go to, of what they buy, what they eat, what they drink, and post it on their social networks for their followers to see. The idea of the hash tag, "#shareacoke" is brilliant because in these times that's all people do, post a picture and add a hash tag and by doing this they not only publicize coke, but they also create interest in other people to go on the hunt for their name.

By far, a personalized coke is a very smart idea because aside from the the large number of purchases, it is self promoting. Its form of advertising is intended for the popularity social network has gotten because the more people post about their coke, the greater the interest of others will be. Like mentioned before, Coke has build up this notion of sharing and ever since then it has built upon it. This form of advertising not only allows them to have a large number of purchasers but it also keeps them in the game.