This is the poster produced by our group for Burger King’s new product -- Kuro (Black) Burger during the in-class activity of week 6. I personally like this one most and would like to further explain the elements and idea included in it.

The slogan “Black Burger, New Era” contains more than one meaning. It could be referring to a new era of the color of the burger, which is used to be brown or beige instead of black. The second meaning is more important as it announces that the time of healthy burger has come. Burger is always seen as a kind of junk food but the ingredients of the black burger are going to converse this impression. Bamboo charcoal is used to dye the bread into black. It is much healthier than then the usual bread made by ordinary flours.

Concerning the graphics, the Kuro Burger is the main character of our poster and occupies the largest proportion. Under the Burger is the bamboo charcoal, the new ingredient as well as the selling point of the product. We also added an explosion effect so as to generate a shocking feeling towards the creative idea of this burger.

The whole poster aims at emphasizing on the breakthrough in the burger history, making it seems unique and worth a try. In addition, it promotes an innovative image of the brand which could be useful in making the public to look forward to the coming products.

Reaching true love someday is probably a dream shared among many girls. The advertisement of TSUBAKI, a shampoo branch produced under the famous cosmetic brand Shiseido, is presented by making good relevance of this wish of its group of target audience.

Window effect is used to promise the audience that they could be as charming as the actresses in the commercial, who are beloved by their own prince. The motion of hair is captured very delicately so as to figure out the “beauty” concretely at the same time of persuading you that having this “glamorous” striking hair would no longer be a dream with a bottle of TSUBAKI.

The slogan of the product “you’re beautiful” is being repeated though out the whole commercial in the background music. This approach is playing an essential role. It makes the whole advertisement stands out from the ordinary ones which used to tell what their potential customers are inadequate with. Not only is the expected outcome predicted here, the watchers are also praised that they are already beautiful enough first. This turns out to be more effective in winning the good-feeling of the audience as no negative indicators are shown, especially when the targets are women, who always want to be admired with their appearance.

The more appealing your look, the higher possibility you are able to find your true love. TSUBAKI has this commercial well-known not only because of the use of famous idols and models. Being successful in building up an image as an ally of all female who hopes to further enhance their charm contributes a more important reason.

[Source: http://world.time.com/2013/10/03/fukushimas-fallout-the-half-lives-of-nuclear-refugees/]

It has been more than two years since the lethal 311 earthquake and tsunami attacked Japan. The country had already got back to the original pace with all commercial activities, entertainment functions and educational events held normally. However, this doesn’t happen to the most affected region- Fukushima, which is now still an exclusion zone due to the unsolved radioactive leakage problem. Photographer Damir Sagolj is now telling us the story of this ghost city with an unknown future.

Maybe it is impossible to reconstruct the city unless the nuclear plant issue ends. Scenes of ruins and abandoned sites are shown in the photo essay. Numbers of collapsed or destroyed buildings are left unfixed since the disaster two years ago. Due to the plant accident, thousands of people were forced to leave their homeland, turning the city vacant. Windows of the residential buildings kept darkened at night, rice field are left abandoned and unproductive, railway tracks are also no longer in use… The whole region presented in the photo essay is extremely quiet.

The power plant had made only limited progress till now as if their time has stopped at the year 2011. It is still a must to check the radiation level frequently as it remained in a dangerous position. Having a big contrast with the low efficiency of those authorities, victims in the shock are already turning a new page of their life. Graves are built for people who passed away in the disasters by their family or relatives, admitting their existence as a past. The survivors had moved on instead of just staying in the depression of 2011.

The crisis indicated in this photo essay is not just a social problem confined locally. There is a great potential of escalating into a worldwide hazard. The leakage of toxic liquid into the Pacific Ocean has not stopped within the past two years. It is urgent to have this problem solved not only for the sake of rebuilding Fukushima but also stopping the nature from being further contaminated.

The photo shows a very common scene during recruitment events. A formally-dressed fresh graduate, who is probably an interviewee, is busying with his application documents in a company’s stall.

When we match the caption “Will this Hong Kong graduate cope in the workplace?” with the content of the news, a doubtful attitude of this photo is could be observed. According to the survey mentioned, only a minority of the interviewees think that Hong Kong graduates could be tough in workplace.

If this photo is used to support the stance point of the news article, the moment captured might be further implying a pessimistic feeling. It is difficult for one to look confident and smart in a posture with head and neck bended down. Added with the helpless facial expression of the youngster in frame, a sense of independent is conveyed which is linked with graduate’s readiness of stepping forward to their brand new life.

Moving on to his hands and lap, he was still busying with the application form. Stuffs like venue pamphlet or souvenirs were in a mess, leaving an untidy impression. It seems that the answer of the caption is already shown. The job seeker here was obviously not well-prepared in advance which makes people believe that he is doomed to fail in this employment activity.

Furthermore, the situation in the photo is still at the stage of application, he had not even received an offer. Not to mention how outstanding they can perform after they get into the workplace, they might not even past the interviews.

The transformation from a student to a productive member of society could hardly be easy. It is stressful to realize that the reality is cruel by failing again and again in job hunting. It doesn’t come to an end when they successfully find a new job. The lack of experience makes them hard to fit into the new environment immediately and this frustration is well portrayed in this image.

Friends?

Here comes a new era of inter-personal relationships. With the development of communication technologies, people all over the world are being linked closer and closer with the invisible chain of internet. Added with the rapid inventions of portable gadgets, online social networking services have become more convenient to access. Almost everyone is having at least one account for websites like Facebook or Twitter.

Nothing could be simpler than making friends by just clicking on a button. Friends on Facebook could be someone you know well or you had not ever met. That’s the reason why the dog in the comic said only 273 people know it is a dog. Those 273 people are probably its friends in reality while the others are the virtual friends made on the internet that it hasn’t really met.

Limited profile might be referring to the function of setting privacy for every single entry to decide who to see or not to see it. Different identities or impression in different groups may be then created unconsciously. A true self seems to be more difficult to present after digital mediation.

The definition of “friend” is changing, or expanding since it is getting easier for a person to be recognized as a “friend” after social networking gets popular. In earlier times, a friend is always someone that we had really interacted with face to face, we know well about and trust. But friends now include also those we made through internet, who we are less familiar with or don’t even know their real identity.

The border between friends and strangers is getting burled. We can only guess their personality depending on his or her homepage or text chatting. When we feel that we know quite a lot about that person, it may not be the truth. Yet, it is still undeniable that our bond with people among the globe is strengthened since the advanced technology provides us with chances and ability to get in touch with each other. The time spent on them is still valuable as every chats could also be a unique experience.

Blanked answers

If the background graphics represents “nightmare”, we may draw a conclusion that the characters here are occupied by their unwanted dreams. The man was trying to switch off his over-stressed mode by taking a short break. However, though the little background monsters were once gone from his sight, they eventually returned and cramped into his mind again.

People who live in a modern city are always stressful. Within the endless cycle of deadlines, deadlines and finally, upcoming deadlines, the question that the man finally raised to himself -- “What the hell was I looking for anyway?” turns this series of monochrome drawings striking to me.

The statement seems to be containing a few meanings. The one on the surface would probably be what food he was looking for while another concerns the purpose for him to get away from his PC, followed by a more deep-rooted matter behind, which is about the target he have been hoping to find out from his “nightmare”.

This is also what bothers me recently. I am confused about what I have been struggling for. If it is a so-called better tomorrow, why can’t I even figure out the definition or standard of it? Given the fact that I am only having a blurred concept on it, are things done in the past just a void? Being filled up with these unanswered questions in my mind, I guess I am having the exactly same facial expression as this frustrated man.