My Summer at the Supermarket.

This summer, I was hired by a Marketing agency to work on several projects in an area that I am not too familiar with…Supermarket promotions.
I learned that it is as much art direction as graphic design so it really appealed to me…and I would never say no to a bunch of large projects that fall into my lap. Especially when I have the opportunity to learn something new.
The clients were huge names. The products as well.
I felt like I spent the summer back in school.
It turns out that there is a huge difference between print ads and promotional pieces...even if they both fall under the category of "advertising".

It has been proven in studies that in order to stop a consumer dead in the aisle, everything we learn from the print advertising side basically goes out the window when it comes to this type of work. Large chunky fonts and colours that would make most art director’s cringe are a must when it comes to creating these ads. At first, I tried to produce layouts that were sleek and clean.
Then I learned that white is horrible at attracting attention in a bright Supermarket full of different products.
The more colour the better. Purples, greens, reds, bright yellow fonts etc.
If you can make it what we in the advertising world call “a dog’s breakfast”, it seems to have more stopping power to those racing a shopping cart down the aisle.
What it boils down to is this…you don’t whisper to the Supermarket consumer, you scream at them. “DON’T BUY THAT ICE CREAM, BUY THIS ONE. You can save money and win a DVD player”.

Last week, I was scanning my shopping list at the Supermarket, when out of the corner of my eye something quickly caught my attention. It was one of the promos I worked on.
I learned how to make an unfamiliar category work.

Variety is supposedly the spice of life.
I tend to agree. Especially when you can learn something new and get paid for it.

Until next time. Keep dreaming.