Third Stop: Design I Like

It's true. Design is everywhere. Media design has a very crucial part in our everyday life since we see it wherever we go – web sites, magazines, billboards, TV, newspapers, movies, art etc. For "Design I Like" I chose HSBC airport advertising campaign. These ads have everything in them – a well-thought concept that is catchy, creativity, beauty, functionality and interactivity. The design isn't complicated and isn't over the top. It is very straightforward. Each ad is composed of a set of two photos with a single word written on each photo. These words are opposites representing contrasting views of life. Each photo is shown once with one word and then with the other. This design, though repetitive, is very clear and minimalistic. The use of symmetrical squares and a simple typography (the common Helvetica font), makes the observer focus on what is truly important in the ad – the meaning of the combination of an image with a specific word. This is the first thing you notice in the ad. Then, you read a short sentence related to point of view (which is the concept) accompanied with the bank's logo. This is when you realize that the ad is actually for a bank. The brilliance of this design is that you remember it after seeing it. The interactivity of it is the thinking that is behind the ad, what stands behind the photos and the caption. The ads are very balanced and mathematical. Everything is perfectly organized, there is no chaos. Things are exactly as they seem – photos from everyday life that represent the diversity in the world. Not only is it beautiful conceptually, it is beautiful design wise. The photos are very artistic, as if taken from a magazine. The colors are very strong and seem even stronger combined with the white background and the bold red frame. The color red has an extremely important role in the design since it is the color of the bank's logo. The photos are shown in sequence which creates one coherent line of thought. There is also an indirect use of affordance in the ads. According to Donald Norman, affordance provides strong clues to the operation of things. Even though the photos don't display any type of action or operation, they show the actual properties of a certain concept. The concept is simple yet very clever: HSBC's message is that as the world's local bank they are representing every society and every point of view. The moment you look at the ads, many associations pop in your mind and you are thinking about what is behind them and their meaning. You realize that you can easily find yourself related to at least one of the categories presented in them. Whether you relate to arts, business, family, sports, music etc. – you feel that you belong. This is where the functionality of the design comes into place: you feel a part of something bigger and seeing other points of view open your mind. This is exactly what is behind this design. The fact that this campaign was intentionally made for airports makes it even smarter: one ad is shown after the other throughout the airport. You can't escape them and you can't forget them. And that's what every designer attempts to do with his design - make it as memorable as possible. Of course it doesn't happen every time. But for HSBC it did. Just look for yourselves...
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