“And all the people bowed and prayed/to the neon god they made/and the sign flashed out it’s warning/in the words that it was forming/ and the silence said the word of the prophets are written on the subway walls/ Teniment Halls” -The Sound of Silence

Recently in Humanities, we worked on a project about advertisements and did our Spring Exhibition.

Keystone 1

For our first keystone, we did a survey on advertising and how it impacts your life and you. And we had to answer the question of “what is media?” I came up with this answer “Media is any form of widespread communication, whether it be print, the internet or TV. The most available type of media is mass media, which means that a lot of people can see it at once, like social media and the TV. Advertisements are a company’s attempt to make their product more well known and more attractive and appealing to the consumer. Companies use advertisements to catch the consumer’s eye, so that they will buy the product. Businesses can use their advertisements to target an audience based on ethnicity, gender, age and location, among other things. By doing this and other tactics, advertisers can guide people to the idea that they should buy their product whether they need it or not.”

 

Keystone 2

Our second keystone was about looking at different advertisements and seeing if they were a print ad, web ad, or a commercial. We also had to look at who made the message, the target audience, advertising techniques, advertising appeals, deciding whether it used pathos, ethos or logos, and deciding what the message was. This was not too difficult, there was just so many things that it looked overwhelming. We also had to answer the question “what is message?” Message is the thing that the business is trying to convince you of by using things like pathos, ethos and logos, appeals, target audience, and other techniques in the advertisement.

Keystone 3

For keystone three, we had to make an advertisement. On our field school to the Oregon Coast, we interviewed family owned businesses that we went to. Mine was Highlife Adventures, a ziplining place. While I was ziplining, I didn’t get any good pictures. This keystone was very difficult for me. I kept feeling like none of my drafts were any good (which they weren’t, but still), because I didn’t have any good photos. That is, until I came up with a good idea. Here are the drafts of my ad:

Finish Line

My good idea was making it more cartoony with Canva. I dislike Canva, but I figured that I should probably use an app that is actually meant for making posters and ads. And so, I finally made an ad that I am proud of.

This project was one of the hardest I’ve had to do. There was so little time to actually make the ad and I didn’t take any good photos at Highlife Adventures. There was also tons of peer critique which is always hard. Overall, this project was discouraging and stressful, but relieving when I got a product I liked. We also had to answer the driving questions of “how does advertising persuade, sell, and influence society?” I think the answer to the question is that advertising is everywhere, and makes people want things that claims to solve their problems. Without advertising people wouldn’t have heard about many problems and products that we know today.

 

Exhibition Time! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

At the beginning of the exhibition, we went into the gym and rolled out big blue mats so the gym floor wouldn’t get dirty. After that, we brought desks in and started setting up everything we brought. I was worried that the people in my group might forget to bring their supplies, even though we planned it in advance. But, we got all the supplies we needed for our booth and were able to setup quite quickly. We got dinner and then the people started coming in. I think I did pretty well talking to the people about my ad and LAUNCH journal (above), especially as the night went on, because I got more comfortable presenting to them.

After about 2 hours, the exhibition was over. We cleaned up our booth and helped the grade 12s pack up their stuff. Then, it was time for the hardest part of all: putting the mats back. When you put the mats back, you have to give them tension on all sides while you slowly wind them back in. It is very difficult for your thumbs. After that we all went home.

I think this exhibition turned out very well. We setup quickly and efficiently and takedown went smoothly. I thought I was actually doing great at talking to people, which is something that I’ve definitely gotten better at. Everyone worked very hard to prepare this exhibition and make sure it was great time for everyone.

Ok bye!