Wacom Advertisement Redo
About the ad:
Campaign: Creativity has no boundaries
Brand: Wacom. A producer of drawing tables.
Agency: These ads were created by Wacom’s art director Maria Molina.
Published: May 2013
Product name:
Wacom Bamboo, this one of the cheapest and thus most accessible drawing tablets on the market. It is made for beginners, creatives and students that want to expand their digital design toolkit whilst looking after wallets. This is a handy low budget device that can easily be carried around. It’s the perfect tool for the budget creator on the go.
Link to original ad:
Why this ad:
The message the ad aims to spread is that creativity has no boundaries. Whilst this is true, it is also a bit generic and overdone in my opinion. The message could be stronger to appeal to the audience of beginning creatives on a budget that Wacom aims to reach here. The audience here are not professionals in the field, they have the money for the high-end models. This Bamboo tablet should be drawing in the newcomers to the field, tempt them to give the Wacom Bamboo tablet a try to see if it’s for them. A small tool for them to explore the possibilities it offers.
Overall the original ad, seems too simple and a little boring to me. The product is an amazing tool in the hands of any creative person and in my opinion, this does not reflect in the original advertisement. This is a product made for people that enjoy creating beautiful things. However, it does not speak to the creators. It does inspire the creators. It does not activate the creators. That is what I plan to fix.
Visual:
I find the original design a bit boring. It is a nice play on how the pen of a drawing tablet can do anything but, in my opinion, it does not show what someone can achieve with a digital toolkit. The illustration looks cool and fresh but to me, it doesn’t feel inspiring. It suggests what the tablet can add to your toolkit. However, it does nothing to showcase the many awesome things it can help you achieve. This Tablet can unlock your creative potential, but it does not show in the sober design.
This is why I wanted to focus more on the aesthetic possibilities that Wacom Bamboo offers. I did this by taking an image from Wacom’s other campaigns for the Wacom Intuos. https://www.behance.net/gallery/10123933/Wacom-Intuos-Advertising-Cosmogony
This artwork is more inspiring to me and invites the audience to start playing around with the drawing tablet. If Wacom aims to inspire then this artwork fits that goal better in my opinion. Simply because it looks stunning and shows the viewer what a Wacom tablet can achieve. It works to excite the viewer, it makes you think: “Could I do that?” or “Imagine what I can do with this!” Speak directly to the audience’s heart, appeal to their desire and imagination. As we learned during class, appeals to desire and emotion work well to sell a product. This is why my new design will focus on this aspect.
The original design does one thing very well and that is the minimalistic and clean design and layout it uses. This is something that I plan on incorporating in my revised version. However, besides that, I plan for going on a complete overhaul that looks more playful and invites creativity.
I plan on doing this by rounding out the poster so it has the shape of a Wacom tablet. This set up the way I want to add the Wacom logo to the poster. With the Wacom Bamboo, the logo is placed on a colourful tag placed at the end of the drawing tablet like in the illustration below. The round edges of the poster will help the poster stand out from others. I want to attract attention in a subtle way and I believe this will help a little. To me, it would be a neat little detail that signals effort and attention with regard to the design. Again to catch the eye and to create appreciation from the audience. A little trigger that hopefully helps to pique their interest in the product.
As mentioned above the original poster is very good in its minimalist design. However, the, almost greyish, the blue colour is a bit too calm in my opinion. There is a lack of contrast and so the ad does not pop out and just looks bland. I want to make it vibrant and flashy so it catches more attention. The colour blue is a “cold” colour often associated with calmness and responsibility, but also sadness. This is espescially true for the lighter more greyish shades. I personally love the color blue. However, calm and responsible is not what we are looking for in this design, I want the vibrance, fire, heat and power.
I want to achieve this by changing the background to dirty white in order to make the new colours of the new image pop out more because of the contrast. The fiery reds, warm yellows, energetic blues and deep purples should catch the eye and enchant the viewer. This should work to make the artwork the star of the show. I like this idea since the table is a tool for the creator to make their creative ideas shine. So less focus on the tablet and more focus on the endless possibilities it provides. Visualising passion and possibilities should make a strong selling point.
This is why I plan to keep the tablet flat, as seen from the side. With the yellow Wacom tag, it should be recognizable whilst keeping the focus on creation. This allows me to edit the image so that it seems like the artwork is coming out of the tablet. I think this illustrates the possibilities and the idea of boundless creativity in a cleaner and less abstract way. Since Comments on the original advert were that the imagery was unclear to some viewers. This should solve that.
Another change I will make is to the typography for the main message, in the original it is thin and difficult to read as it almost disappears in the background. The imagery is strong in its message but it becomes more powerful when backed by powerful words. This is why I plan to change the font to Campton. This is a powerful more solid fond that should stick out more. The fact that it looks bolder allows me to add a gradient formed with colours from the artwork. I hope this combines the strength of the font with the magical dreamlike atmosphere of the artwork. The idea is that it works to tie the two main elements of the ad design together so the visuals work to get the message across to the audience.
I have chosen to keep the font used for the words “Bamboo” and “Wacom” since I want to keep the ties to the original product and the style used for it. The version I got my hands on is not the best quality but it will have to suffice. It is important to respect the original style and design used for the product since the Bamboo tablet is still a product by Wacom. It would be foolish to break these ties to the producer since this would make the ad less effective. Wacom is known for its good quality products and the authority the recognizability brings is an important selling point. This is why it would be unwise to weaken this link by using different fonts for the product and producer names. It confuses the audience and weakens the ad.
The final design choice I have made is a small and subtle one that has to do with the way people consume information. At the moment the different aspects of the poster create a down-pointing pyramid or funnel that guides the eyes from the artwork and the tablet towards the copy and finally down to the words Bamboo and Wacom. This makes sure that after the visuals and message are absorbed people will be reminded of the fact that they are looking at an ad for the Bamboo tablet by Wacom. This not only makes sure the product is mentioned and promoted but also adds strength to the advertisement with the trustability of the Wacom brand name.
Language:
The text: “creativity has no boundaries.” Does feel a bit basic to me, kind of overused. It is in line with what Wacom stands for but at this point in time, it does little to stand out. Also when this slogan is compared to the Maslow pyramid it only touches on the Esteem subject of freedom. Since people are now free to be creative without limits. However, this still feels somewhat weak.
This is why I plan to change the copy to: “DREAM - IMAGINE - CREATE” This version is less passive and more of a call to action because it speaks directly to the audience with a sugestive tone. This turns the copy into a call to action that invites the audience to think about the many creative paths they could explore with the Wacom Bamboo. Also, it touches more of the Maslow pyramid’s topics this way. The idea of exploring and pushing boundaries works with the Self Actualisation part of the pyramid because it invites people to be the best they can be in their creative field. It helps you to peak, in the new caption we cover more topics of the Maslow pyramid that enhance each other and the message is more proactive. This should be more powerful in reaching the audience and influencing them to think about the product and what it could mean to them. Once we achieve this foothold in their minds they can weigh out them options for themselves.
The language is the copy will become less vague and more direct in this way. The message is more clear and straight to the point whilst it does a better job inviting the audience to think. The direct languages and words used, appeal more directly to the values of the creative people in the target audience. Once again making the message stronger in my opinion. Thus, improving the quality of the advertisement.
Target audience:
I believe my changes will help to sell the product to the intended target audience which in this case are creative people that want to get started with digital drawing, that is on a budget or both. This new ad helps to inspire them with the possibilities of a Wacom Bamboo in a visual sense. It shows them what the product can do in the right hands and there is nothing as stimulating for a creative person as something that sparks an idea on a concept in their heads. When it comes to the language it has become more activating and now focuses on the creative person themselves. They are the creation machine and with Wacom, they can explore their own boundaries and go beyond them. Inspire and challenge, this should work to motivate more people to buy the product.
Reworked advertisements:
