Portrait-Billboard critique

Bodley

I was working on a billboard design for a jewelry store which included a photo of the owner (my brother-in-law). I generally shoot action sports and T&I's so this was my first attempt at a set-up portrait.

As Shot (shot against foam-board to facilitate extraction)



Corrected shot




For Kicks - Modified into portrait with digital background




Billboard




I would appreciate critiques on any of the above

fcorin13

Hi! This is a good attempt esp. if you are used to shooting sports/action shots! I think the lighting is ok, but what I want to recommend is having him look directly at the camera. It gives you a sense of connecting with him rather than him looking off somewhere to your left! I appreciate you showing the "billboard"- it really helps to not have to "visualize" it!

urbanaries

ditto on the subject looking at the camera...

from a graphic design standpoint, the final image is way to busy for outdoor advertising. I'd lose the screened image of the store in the background. It is distracting. Outdoor must be kept very bold and simple to be effective, viewers have little time to digest what's being communicated.

mmroden

I second the too-crowded idea. I believe the rule of thumb is 7 words or less, as in, what someone can read at a glance while going 75 mph down a highway.

My thoughts: ditch the background, go with something a bit more expensive and less distracting, like some bunched up velvet or something similar. The current background has too many details, and the viewer's eye wants to figure out what it's seeing-- definitely a bad thing when there's a message you're trying to convey in a very short timeframe.

Lose the bottom bar (no one can write a phone number in the car, and if he doesn't take credit cards it'd be hard to run a jewelry store) except maybe the directions. I'd go with a font that looks like highway signage rather than a copperplate gothic. Highway fonts are designed to be read a long ways away, and our eyes are used to seeing that font and thinking 'directions'. Especially with a green background, but then you're starting to really veer away from what I think you're going for here.

I'd also try to get him to face the camera, and look a bit less tense. Either his shirt collar is riding high, or he's got enormous shoulders, but it makes him look like his shoulders are just rigid with nervous energy. Which may be true, but may also not be the image he'd want to project. If he can face the camera, relax, and offer a genuine smile, that will definitely help.

Finally, take my advice with a huge grain of salt. My graphic design knowledge has been limited to some minor web stuff and some posters I made in college.

System

hope you don't mind-

let me know if you do and I'll take it down-

he looked a little yellow and a little washed out-

LilleG

I agree that he should be looking at the camera. As for the background, the 2 "Buzzy's Jewely" compete with each other for attention. It might work better to lose the one on the storefront.

Lee

rosselliot

if you want business, do something a LOT simpler than that. there's WAY to much look at as you drive by and the eyes are going to be directed RIGHT at your brother in law and in my opinion, it seems really conceited to put a picture of yourself on your own billboard - sell your business, don't put yourself on there.

here an idea, it's definitely not perfect, I only spent like 3 minutes on it, it'd take longer to get it perfect... but instead of a 2-d diamond, work on getting it to look 3-d and translucent. and make is plain and simple. you drive in miles, not minutes. put it in miles. also, I know I didn't change this, but I think it does need to be - the name of the store is Buzzy's Jewelry, is it really necessary to say "jewelry" again in the list of things? I think that should be self-evident.

it's like saying "walpole tire center" "Tires-rotations-repairs" ....it's a TIRE CENTER....I would guess they'd have tires.

just my two cents.

here's my rendition...much more editing needed:




- RE

Bodley

rosselliot wrote:

if you want business, do something a LOT simpler than that. there's WAY to much look at as you drive by and the eyes are going to be directed RIGHT at your brother in law and in my opinion, it seems really conceited to put a picture of yourself on your own billboard - sell your business, don't put yourself on there.

here an idea, it's definitely not perfect, I only spent like 3 minutes on it, it'd take longer to get it perfect... but instead of a 2-d diamond, work on getting it to look 3-d and translucent. and make is plain and simple. you drive in miles, not minutes. put it in miles. also, I know I didn't change this, but I think it does need to be - the name of the store is Buzzy's Jewelry, is it really necessary to say "jewelry" again in the list of things? I think that should be self-evident.
- RE

-Not overly concerned about additional business from this gig.

-He's not conceded and you couldn't whip me hard enough to make me put my mug on a billboard (probably because of what my mug looks like)

-Thanks for the tips but the customer is very specific about what he wants on his sign. The minutes instead miles is a must on his part. That's why I added the shot of the store in the background to help identify the location. I also cut out over half of the words from his previous billboard.

Thanks again for your reply

Bodley

gefillmore wrote:

hope you don't mind-

let me know if you do and I'll take it down-

he looked a little yellow and a little washed out-

Does need more punch. May have been affected by the CMYK conversion.

dragon300zx

If action is what you do why not do it. I know this can't be sports but get some photos of him working (IE working on jewelry, working with a customer, etc). It will help him relax and not so look so uptight.

Bodley

dragon300zx wrote:

If action is what you do why not do it. I know this can't be sports but get some photos of him working (IE working on jewelry, working with a customer, etc). It will help him relax and not so look so uptight.

Good suggestion. Actually thought about trying that but the shoot was a last minute request. They had originally planned to use their previous billboard layout but the company that bought the board couldn't make it work. They just wanted to re-create the original at a higher resolution.