Contrasting Effect

The creator of the ad emphasizes a symmetrical layout to create a contrasting effect. From the first look the viewer notices a definitive split down the center of the image: half of the girl’s face is normal and the other half is a skull. The two images are divided in parallel to represent the contrasting parallel between life and death. The creator of the ad intends for the viewer to easily reach this conclusion on their own to create a sense of logic and rationality. The main text of the ad consists of two statements on one side mirrored by to words on the other. The creator uses the vertical symmetry of the four phrases to create a mirror effect because mirrored copies are supposed to be the same. By changing only one number (40 changed

To start, the entire background is black which creates a sense of void as if there is no life left in the girl. In contrast, the black background could be paired with the light gray image of the face and skull to seem like an x-ray photograph. In this case an x-ray image is most commonly associated with broken bones. This means that the girl was struck at thirty miles per hour and survived with only broken bones since there is an 80% chance he’ll live. Since the image is in grayscale rather than color, the use of lighting is more noticeable. Although the lack of color takes away from the humanization of the girl because her eyes are a soulless black, the lighting gives her a sense of innocence. With contrast to the black background and the dark areas of the skull, the tones of light gray around the girl’s face give her a sense of purity. Also, use of grayscale in the image to make it simpler since the colors are only black, gray, and white rather than broad spectrum of colors that could potentially have been included. This adds to the effect created by the structure of the ad since the image is “black and white” and the message is addressing only life and death. The structure is simple and the lighting is simple so the message taken from the ad should be simple: do not exceed the speed

Even though the ad seems lacking in words at first, their placement and usage are essential to the ad. The staggered format of the phrases “hit at 30mph” and “hit at 40mp” creates the shape of a neck and shoulder blades. This adds to the skeletal look of the image which heightens the tone of death in the ad. With the help of the symmetrical layout making the juxtaposition of the phrases more noticeable, the fact that only two words are changed highlights the motif of pairs used throughout the ad. As mentioned prior, thirty is changed to forty and live is changed to die. Two words experience change and according to the ad there are only two outcomes to the circumstance being addressed: if divers follow the speed limit of 30mph, the boy will live, if they choose not to, the boy will die. The composer of the ad uses these clear-cut options to develop a sense of logic in the ad. Below the symmetrical phrases is the phrase “its 30 for a reason.” This phrase summarizes the facts presented in the ad by stating that logically, the speed limit is 30 in some residential areas because the chances are even a little girl can survive if struck by a vehicle at this