Makro regularly produce a product range magazine and these required adverts to go in them. The format was set – the Makro header and the chevron design were givens – this meant there was a small space to try and make an impact to promote the product. I tried to pastiche existing advertising styles such as the fragrance ad evoking images from perfume advertising.

Despite the rigid Makro design format there were opportunities to have a bit of fun… for example when I designed the gateau advert and proposed as series of empty seats left vacant by the members of Cakeaholics Anonymous who’d been tempted by the Makro range. These ads were very well received and turned in to a mini campaign with stores actually holding Cakeaholic Anonymous meetings – which were used for members of the public to sample the gateau range! Good fun!

Despite the format restrictions it also didn’t stop the adverts being quite styled and looking like they had been shot in an expensive location. As it turned out these ads were put together in Photoshop with stock photos (if you want to find out how click here) but the overall impression was one of a classy, stylish advert for their product.

Again, fun could be had with the adverts. I noticed that the toilet dispenser could be turned in to a smiley face… this led to the ‘brings a smile to any dispenser’ advert. I used the liquify and warp tools in Photoshop to make the rectangular paper dispenser turn in to a smiley mouth.

More Photoshop work for the juice drink ad range where I varied the back ground shots (once blurred out) to elevate a simple basic brand to the levels of its competitors that you find in pubs and clubs.