Design Principles and Semiotics Can "Fix" Wrinkles

In a print advertisement by skincare company Nivea, a close-up shot of an older man’s forehead spans the entirety of the page. Even more oddly, a young girl is shown hanging upside-down on the man’s face, latching onto his wrinkles for support. Almost an afterthought, an image of the company’s men’s moisturizer product and a “because life makes wrinkles” slogan are firmly planted in the lower right corner of the page; each uphold the ad’s gray-ish color scheme and provide a final point for eye movement.These denotative displays of wrinkles and color will be discussed alongside cultural assumptions about gender markets to conduct an analysis of the ad’s design principles and semiotics.

The focal point of the advertisement is also one of its key uses of symbolism; the contrasting, yet complementary colors of the young girl and the older man’s forehead indicate a distinctive and associative relationship according to Hagen & Golombsky's Principles of Good Design; this helps qualify the combined image’s meaning as a signifier.

Applying the cultural context to this signifier, the company’s apparent attempt at stereotypical humor is revealed; the young girl in this image is literally a “pain in the head” to her presumed father (owner of the forehead), whose stress is emphasized by the extent of his “worry line” wrinkles.

With the advertisement being for a cosmetic product, however, it is unusual that a stereotypical parenting anecdote would be a major signifier in this message. Still, it appears equally uncommon to see an advertisement for a men’s cosmetic product. Perhaps this is why the symbolism in this example does not play on insecurity, as it likely would for women in the American market. Because cosmetic maintenance is assumed to be less important to men than to women, the advertisement uses this image as an alternative to reach and relate to men.

The girl in the image turns the symbolism of the gray color “upside-down,” which could imply that the overwhelming excitability associated with her youth is trying to the maturity and stability of her father, which are connoted by his gray hair. In contrast, a writing from M. Danesi would suggest that the graying hair is figuratively chained to wise choice. When this symbol is paired with the similar tone of the product image in the lower right corner, the Gestalt Theory’s concept of proximity signals that the two entities must share some relational quality. To the viewer, then, it can be subconsciously connoted that the Nivea product is a sensible purchase made by wise men.

In this advertisement, numerous interpretations can result from the cognitive processes of viewers, like those of difference and association discussed previously. Prominently displaying an obscure image of a girl hanging from an older man’s forehead wrinkles, the advertisement’s message clearly lies beyond the denotative. This complexity is what gives the ad a high connotative (ambiguity) index, which boldly attracts viewer attention through Beasely and Danesi's concept of visual metaphor. While vagueness does not appear to be a desirable quality in the promotion of a specific product, the index is effectively applied in this case because of the item’s small, indifferent target market of men. **Note: The hyperlink within this post connects to a webpage that provides additional detail about marketing to men.