Visual Communication

(Preface to the Boone Beat Down)

The purpose of visual communication can be best described with my written work called the Boone Beat Down. I chose this essay because I feel that I have a deep connection to the advertisement I chose to use for this assignment. This advertisement helped me to better understand the purpose and messages behind all forms of visuals in a sense that everything has a meaning and a purpose.

The Boone Beat Down is an essay tearing apart an ad to help the reader better understand visuals. The ad chosen for the essay is for a cage fighting event. Because of the intense happenings of cage fighting and wrestling it made the evaluation of the ad very easy to analyze.

Iowa State and the Boone Beat Down

This ad as a whole possesses many different attributes that I think the advertisers were trying to enforce. Personally I think this ad isn’t anything but straight forward; it’s an advertisement for a cage fighting meet in Boone. By looking at the ad on the right you can see how it has a dark background and a lot of text. Surrounding this text are many figures of which the fighters that are participating in this upcoming fight. This advertisement is located on a billboard in the walking area of the Memorial Union food court at Iowa State University. Personally I find that the most interesting thing about this advertisement is the girl Sarah Wilson. I have seen many posters for cage fighting and never have I seen a girl on the main front of the ad.

To tie into what I was just saying about Sarah, she really helps to build into the context of this ad and its placement in this time of year and location. By having Sarah (an Iowa State student) on the cover it really shows how the planners of this event were reaching for a college level crowd and how it is directed towards the schools surrounding Boone. Also this ad has been put out at the perfect time of year because it is fall and there is football in the air. Plus the want to be aggressive and try new things is sporadically throughout everyone’s mind. Also with the break in the football schedule at ISU it was a perfect time to throw in the idea of another sport to entertain the area. It fit right on our calendar and was thrust upon us with impeccable timing.

The general audience for this advertisement is statistically white male dominant. This targets any male mainly of an American background from 12 to 60 who have a history of wrestling or more importantly a man who likes to watch professional wrestling on television. All of these attributes help to feed this interest in fighting and also the manly man stereotype that goes along with it.

In the USA there is a dominant stereotype of masculinity and it is burned into the minds of men from birth. Cage fighting is a way that men can express their given right to aggression and its entertaining of fighting of others.

I would have to say that the general purpose of this ad is to persuade people to come to this event or become interested in fighting. To put this flyer up around this town signifies that these types of events happen everywhere, and the fans of these events are trying to make them more popular at ISU. Also, with the small amount of professional fights that happen around here it will really help to publicize the event and create the want for more fights in the future.

Logos is really a key part to this advertisement strategy. By looking at the ad more closely you would not be able to really get into the ad without the particular placement of its text and visuals. Just the way the text is simple and to the point really makes it more appealing to look at because you focus more on the images. Also the title in its different font style really embraces the true energy that comes from these events because it is very bold and interesting to see. Then by looking at the fighters around the text, that is when you are really drawn into the ad and the purpose has been fulfilled by the advertisers. It’s because it makes you want to go to this exciting event!

Moving onto ethos and looking at the visual elements of the ad it can really make you think. The way that the people are organized on the flyer and how they appear to be tuff makes a huge difference on the judgment a person would make on the ad. If they were all smiling and dressed in nice attire it would really give a different image to the audience. So by having the tough look and merely having women on the poster it really helps to interest a wide range of people.

After discussing all of the different attributes that enforce this great advertisement it is clear that the world view of this ad is directed mainly towards people living in Americans. Also like I said before, this ad is generated towards young adults around a college level, so it is in the perfect place. This ad is located in a food court that is in the center of the ISU campus. As a student of Iowa State I feel that any person who is attending this university or visiting comes to this building. It is the gateway to everything at Iowa State including the University Bookstore and outstanding food court. The location of this ad does give an unlikely reach of anyone not living in this area would ever see it.

As an example of this advertisement truly working, I myself had to go to this fight to see it for myself. I must say that this type of experience is not for everyone but it is something that every young adult should see. There is forcefully an overwhelming feeling of anger and excitement inside your body as you, trembling, watch a fight of sweat and strength being tested in front of you. It is amazing and gives you such a thrill that you have never felt before, that just tests your body of our natural instinct to be violent as the animals we truly are. I loved going to this fight and I plan to go again. It clearly gave me an insight to what the ad portrayed with the reason it was placed in the cafeteria in Ames and how it attracts certain people. Now with my personal experience of going to a fight I feel that this advertisement did its job. Now it is time to do yours. Go to a fight and have the thrill of your life.