Analyzing Potato Ads

The following advertisements for the Idaho Potato Commission are designed simply and effectively in order to get their message across. The IPC implements numbers that take up a majority of the ad, focusing mainly on the statistics pertaining to potatoes. 

The size of the orange “90%” emphasizes the importance of such a large percentage, visually matching the statistic; “412 lbs” in the second ad also places an emphasis on the large quantity of potatoes sold per second. 

The typography used in both also clearly display the information and are easy on the readers’ eyes. The use of a serif font for the headline and a sans serif font for the body copy is also an effective choice which breaks us the phrases. Orange and yellow are also high-arousal colors, per the lecture slides. The choice to use these colors emphasizes the importance of the large numbers.  

Another clear strength of these advertisements are the use of negative space. Having such a large area of white alloy the both the potato and text to stand out immediately. There is more of a focus on the large colored number which then leads the readers’ eyes to the bottom of the page, where the pop of color appears again. 

Another element of these ads’ design is the potato at the bottom right corner of the page. Placing it on the right allows for the reader to read the headline and body, left to right, reaching the potato image last. The image also features the IPC certification logo, as well as the website directly underneath. This bottom corner not only shows the brand but how to learn more, beyond the printed page.