To help gain exposure for the Alight festival, it obviously needs some sort of advertising. I started off with photographing areas in Sheffield which have high impact where different types of advertising are placed. Here are some examples below;
This advertisement above is known as one of Sheffield's largest advertising displays. Within such a busy area of Sheffield with the city centre a minute walk away as well as Sheffield Hallam opposite, this would be a prime location for exposure on the alight campaign. The only downside is the cost as it would be extremely expensive to advertise on here.
In relationship to the large welcome poster, they also have an information and merchandise shop next door to Winter Gardens. This has only just opened at the end of last month and I feel they've done an excellent job in presenting it. The branding is strong throughout and I like the use of a silhouette horizon of Sheffield's most well known landmarks on the exterior of the shop. Also the strong stencil font use throughout is also a nice touch. They have a large plasma screen inside which has oppurtunities for advertising. This could be another way to advertise for the Alight festival.
Phone boxes are a dying use due to the popularity of mobile phones, however, they're still commonly used as a method of advertising as most of them are situated in high footfall areas and urban streets.
Above are a couple examples of one of the most common forms of print advertising. These are dotted all over the city and can generate a lot of attention if executed well.
Here are a couple more ways above in which alight could be advertised on using print media.
Sheffield Hallam University have some great examples of the use of print banners which could be used for the alight campaign, here are some examples;
This banner is one of the first communication messages you see when you walk through the main entrance. The strong use of red against the cream interior gives a strong prominence and reminder to students that they need a fill in a survey.
A couple more examples, however I feel the banner above is positioned in a non effective place. Firstly, this area within the uni is constantly very busy with a higher priority of what side of the stairs to walk down while getting to your lesson as smooth as possible. The second thing is the handrail which obstructs some of the information on the page. A nice alternate design to the rectangular stand though.
As I was going around the Sheffield centre, I was thinking of areas which are a bit more unusual in which I would feel generate some word of mouth buzz due to their uniqueness of them. Here are a few examples of what I mean...
This circular seating area is located just round the back of Velocity Towers in Sheffield. It's a high footfall area for students who walk to university or the city centre. With such a round presence, it could be used to create some sort of pavement art which could possibly be very eye catching if implemented correctly. The circle also represents Alight nicely by bringing all different types of people together. The main issue would be permission from the landowners to create an advertisement on there.
A grimey disgusting looking subway could be transformed to create something positive when people walk through them instead of seeing graffiti everywhere. Again there are implications to this. Cost of cleaning, permission from council and types of materials to prevent vandalism. However, if possible, I feel it would create a unique buzz of attention.
The Moor has some excellent large areas which could be used to create attention. In particular the area next to Atkinsons in which you can see in the photos above. Currently there is a campaign in this area with prominent stands showing this information. Another thing to point out are the construction walls which have been transformed into an eye catching style of information on the walls about Sheffield's history. Information about alight could also go here to compliment the style. Another way of promotion could be on the pavement slabs but again all this goes down to the permission allowed to go ahead with such campaigns.
There is a lot of space outside the City Hall which could be used effectively to help promote the Alight campaign.Situated right in the centre of the city with a high footfall area, the potential to create something bizarre like a flash mob for example could be a great success.
Another excellent area is the Crucible theatre grounds. It always is a beautiful spectacle at night with the potential to emit steam through the pavement as well as an endless combination of led colours, there's a lot of room for potential in this space.
There is a lot of space outside the City Hall which could be used effectively to help promote the Alight campaign.Situated right in the centre of the city with a high footfall area, the potential to create something bizarre like a flash mob for example could be a great success.
Another excellent area is the Crucible theatre grounds. It always is a beautiful spectacle at night with the potential to emit steam through the pavement as well as an endless combination of led colours, there's a lot of room for potential in this space.
