Zipcar & the Basic Principles of Design

Disclaimer: The camera on my phone is the WORST
As I was walking to class last week I picked up a Zipcar brochure. I've been seeing zipcars more often in Baltimore over the last few months so I guess its a pretty reliable service. I'm not certain if our post for the week is supposed to be a one sheet or single page ad, but I thought this was a well put together advertisement.


The 4 Basic Principles of Design

Alignment
The ad keeps a consistent half inch border around the entire brochure. The lettering is strategically aligned in the middle of the space throughout the brochure. If you notice the paragraphs are all aligned left but centered in the page. The items on the page seem to share a similar axis. The text and images are within close proximity in the center. Which leads me into...



Proximity
The image of the vehicle is centered in the page with two accompanying images. The accompanying images are pictures of the driver in front of the vehicle (in the forefront-tilted) and a picture of scenery (in the background-tilted) Its fair to assume these are pictures of people who have rented zipcars and have traveled using this service. Placing the images within close proximity to the image of the vehicles pulls the ad together.

Repetition
Each page of the brochure maintains the following features
Image of a vehicle
2 accompanying images (picture of driver, picture of scenery)
Bold orange type face (Brand of car and model name)
Bold green typeface adjective (describes the features of the Zipcar service)
The designer did a excellent job of maintaining continuity throughout the brochure. The repetition pulls the ad together and makes the brochure easier to assess.



Contrast
Each page has contrasting words and colors to distinguish elements on the page. At to top is the bolded green adjective describing a feature of the zipcar service. Further down the page is a contrasting bolded orange Vehicle brand and model name. The very last page of the brochure is a yellow page with contrasting green images. The designer plays with contrasting colors within the color palate.

Please let me know if you agree with my assessment of the Zipcar advertisement!