Great Art Direction by Ross Sinclair

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

-Leonardo da Vinci

In this lecture by Ross she explained to us the meaning and importance of Simplicity where the best work is where less is more. How we can understand simplicity and work accordingly to make the message stand out. By “subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful” is one able to create a true piece of art.  Students do not know when to stop and just let the work be as it is. We keep on piling on our work which just becomes too overwhelming and loses its message.

Differentiating between the good-simple and the bad-simple could be a bit difficult and that is what we as students have to learn. Maintain a balance between something that is too simple or bad simple to something that has been piled on and just looks like over-kill. It has the ability to grab and keep the audience’s attention due to its uniqueness.

“Simplicity is the key to creating successful work. However there is Good-simple and there is Bad-simple. A great ad has to have something clever and unexpected.” Pete Barry, 2008

In her lecture Ross gave us an example of simplicity in the advert for Harley Davidson by Vineet Raheja. A young rebellious teen is shown sitting outside the principal’s office, which is actually the target audience for this commercial. It is a powerful ad because it targets by appealing the ideal audience for Harley Davidson. In another example from the same series he shows a boy who is punished and stands in the corner of the class.