Visual Rhetoric Analysis #3: Applying the Principles of Design

For this week's analysis I chose this billboard because it fell into a lot of the topics we covered this week. This billboard is for a workout session available in West Hollywood for participants to burn calories during a 45-60 minute set.

Our eyes are immediately pulled into the man’s physique with the words “Results Not Resolutions” scrawled across his broad shoulders. While this workout is designed for both men and women, I feel that this billboard caters more towards men. If we look at what we learned in gendered images, this image has a persuasive quality that is geared more towards the stereotype of masculinity.

We also learned about the basic principles of document design that can apply to images as well. Based on what we learned, we can see several of the principles at work in this billboard. The contrast of the most important words and the backgrounds in which they appear allow the words to stand out. This is crucial in billboard designs because there is a short window of viewing that the designer has to work with because the viewer is usually a driving past the sign. The alignment in the words across his back works very well because it is right across the middle of the image and our attention is immediately drawn into it. The statement itself adds to the sign’s rhetoric and even more so, the “results” are strategically placed across the muscular back of a man. All of the details are grouped together in close proximity to ensure it does not divert the attention from the main message itself. If someone is interested, they will definitely scan the billboard for all of the details and again, since the viewers are driving, proximity is important.

Overall, I believe this image did a great job at delivering its message in a manner that effectively attached the perfect image to the perfect words.

Photo source: jasoninhollywood.blogspot.com