journal seven

The first ad that I chose is from RVCA’s  2010 autumn line. I’ve written before about how I appreciate the design that RVCA is always progressing in. They’re ads always  stand out to me in skate and surf magazines. This company always seems to  set the bar when it comes to professional and clean-looking design. However, a lot of the time, within the skateboarding trends its not always about cleanliness and professional presentation. The add campaign is for a line called the balance of opposites. There is a series of about five of these adds floating around in various skateboarding and surfing magazines, as these are the cultures that RVCA intends to market their product to. The add itself is comprised of two squares which are both equal in size but the contents of each square is drastically different. In one square there is an image of what appears to be a roadside picture of a mountain. In the other square is an image of a gallery showing, bustling with people moving in and out of the small gallery. One can observe that in the gallery people who are mingling are all possessed by the draw of image- what they’re wearing, if the gallery is trendy enough, all of these thoughts are inevitable when you’re at an art show. These are just a few of the cultural myths that this designer implies in this ad. But, on the other hand the designer does a good job of creating an equal opposite- a place, maybe along the way of a long awaited road trip, where the concern of image is absent.  I believe that the message and connotations are very cleverly put that, if one desires to achieve happiness, they need to have an ability to balance the hustle and bustle of their life with an intentional removal from the things that our culture creates and move into the vastness of nature.