It's a Love Hate Relationship
After graduating from graphic design school, being employed in work that incorporates your design skills and creativity can be fulfilling. You can reach mountain top experiences when you design something fantastic.
On the flip, you can enter dark, shadowy areas when your designs falter or even worse, are flawed.
One graphic designer expressed this love/hate situation by saying:
.
"I love the comment, 'You must love designing for a living.' At that point I usually start to laugh or break into uncontrollable tears."
- Andrew Lewis, art director, designer, and artist
In this installment of Gotcha! Graphic Design Advertising Mistakes we'll display actual ad mistakes taken from websites, magazine ads, and brochures. A great big "thanks" to the members of photoshopdisasters.com for digging up many of these examples in our Gotcha! series.
Enjoy and have fun!
.
300 - The Movie
This action thriller film was an adaptation of Frank Miller's comic book mini-series of the historical Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). During this event a small army of Spartans held off a barrage of attacks by overpowering Persian forces.
Here is the DVD box art:
...............................................
But What is Wrong? (Click on Image)
At first glance everything appears to be correct. But upon closer inspection the sword held by the main character isn't being held at all. The hand seems to be gripping a handle that isn't connected to the blade.
.
Santander Bank
.........................
The international banking institution, Santander, is headquartered in the UK. The photo is from their website and displays a group of people posing as staff members. They all look pleasant and professional.
But What is Wrong? (Click on Image)
Although the group photo looks inviting, some of the images of people have been inserted through Photoshop. You'll notice that the woman with the red skirt has legs that mysteriously meld into the back of the woman in front. Her legs also never reach the floor.
Other problems concern improper use of the magic wand feature in cutting out portions of background and various other cut and paste errors.
.
Moët and Chandon Champagne
........................
Most special celebrations start with a bottle of bubbly. Moët and Chandon have been producing fine champagne for over 260 years. This advertisement displays the effervescence of one of its sparkling wines.
But What is Wrong? (Click on Image)
The photo of the product is well lit and composed nicely. The champagne looks good enough to drink and the bubbles...are rising in an oblique angle to counteract gravity!
The simple mistake of not paying attention to the superimposed image of the sparkling beverage and the bubble orientation makes the ad a little less believable.
Look Before You Leap
We hope you've had as much fun with this series as we have. And hopefully, these examples not only make us smile, but make us more aware of the details when we design.
Graphic design schools and graphic design colleges provide the education needed to become successful graphic designers, but responsibility for good attention to details falls upon the designer.
Until next time, keep on designing!
