Design Presentation: Beats vs. Skullcandy

I am going to compare an ad for Beats by Dre featuring Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar, and an ad for Skullcandy Crusher featuring Kevin Durant and Wale.

I'll start off by just comparing the products themselves.

The Beats by Dre appear to be a luxury item. The design is sleek, I get the idea that slipping these head phones on would be akin to getting into a luxury vehicle with smooth leather seats. The logo uses the law of simplicity in the way that upon first look you identify the "b" for "beats", but then on further inspection identify that the b also represents headphones.

Now for the Crusher by Skullcandy, the design already appears more bulky and less sleek than the Beats. The name is worth mentioning for the context, the "Crusher" makes me fret about the state of my eardrums post listen, whereas the "Studios" brings to mind a elite listening session for whatever I'm about to listen to. Upon looking at the Skullcandy headphones I think more of a head set worn by pilots (and the sounds associated with pilots/planes definitely aren't appealing) than comfortable fitting, good looking listening gear. The headphones, however, aren't horrendous in looks. These headphones play more on the matte side, which can be very appealing and luxurious as well. The logo for the Skullcandy headphones uses the law of closure to depict a skull in a simple/unique form.

Now to move on to the difference in advertising technique.

The Beats by Dre ad depicts a collaboration of the well-known rapper Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre himself. Shown in the format of a sort of music video, this ad certainly uses highly credible sources. The idea of this ad proves for function, that with the headphones both Kendrick and Dre were able to pick up on what the sound that they were creating was missing (drums).

The ad for the Skullcandy headphones is a very well put together ad. In comparison to the Beats ad though, it loses its credibility somewhat. The ad uses Kevin Durant, a well known NBA star, to sell the product. In special effects you see what the experience is like for Durant, certainly a good way to pump up before a game. Then the ad ends by Durant passing the Crushers off to the rapper Wale. This adds credibility, but in the face of the collaboration of two musical masterminds, Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre, not enough.

Gestalt Theory: The Law of Pragnanz group presentation

Bette Pauling: 

Simply put, it means “good form”, it demonstrates that humans tend to organize shapes to simple forms. This means figures are seen as their simple elements instead of complicated shapes. 

This means images that are ambiguous and complex, are interpreted as simple shapes by humans. 

Pragnanz:

is symmetrical 
contains the simplest shapes possible
contains the fewest number of shapes 

An example of this is, emoticons.

8)   :] :-O 

We simplify these shapes and it is only with the other elements of Gestalt that we are able to recognize the face that is made from these simple shapes.

Kassi Gillette:

Pragnanz Exhibit/display: Reality is organized or reduced to the simplest form possible.

From this photograph of the artwork exhibit on display we quickly see two triangles and a square in between. When we actually examine it, there are many different shapes, textures, designs that are more complicated than what initially meets the eye. 

Allie Macier:

Using the domain of identity, this logo for Foodmobile cleverly plays on the law of pragnanz to represent itself and its purpose. 

Identity

At first the eye identifies the simplest shape used here, which would be a car. Following that, the eye is able to pick out the individual pieces of food that are grouped together to create the car.