Facebook is sneaky in that it likes to include sponsored posts in my news feed hopefully without me noticing. Recently, I watched this video about the Nintendo Switch. I don’t follow the official Nintendo page, but this post made it to my feed nonetheless.
Below, I’ll be performing a reverse engineer on some of the design techniques Nintendo used in their post.
Here’s a link to the video: https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo/videos/339219650044182/
Additionally, this post makes use of the value principle and zeitgeist principle in relation to the seascape. The video demonstrates value that the Switch provides in allowing the user to game how, when, and where they want since the console is a hybrid mobile-home console. Secondly, the Zeitgeist principle applies as gaming on the go has become so popular in recent years and one of the only lines in the video is one of the daughters asking, “Are you guys playing without me?” Nobody wants to be left out and the console is shown to be inclusive.
Let’s begin by talking about the simplicity of the typography. The font is sans serif and very easily visible. All letters are uppercase and to provide a bit of contrast and develop hierarchy, Nintendo is smaller and thinner, while the console name ‘Switch” is larger. Sometimes simple is best, and Nintendo demonstrates this well with their typography.
I also noticed the simplicity of their logo. Seriously, it probably took about 5 minutes to design. It’s two circles with symmetrical ‘rectangles’ with rounded corners. The more I study design, the more I’ve come to realize that simple logos work best. Think of the Nike swoosh, for example. I believe this works so well because of contrast. Red and white are the only two colors used. One half of the logo has white on red, while the other half has red on white. It’s simple, provides contrast, and is easily recognizable.
Lastly, we’ll analyze a different frame within the video. Four people are shown in this scene. What do they have in common? They’re looking at the same thing. The product being advertised. Naturally, we tend to follow the same line of sight of the people shown in a photograph or video. This is a form of leading lines which leads our eyes directly to the product being advertised.
Conclusion:
Well, Nintendo got me. I watched their sponsored video and I enjoyed it enough to analyze it. They apply the value and zeitgeist principles of the seascape, and they’ve designed their advertisement to have simple, yet great contrast and typography as well as leading lines to draw the viewers’ eyes to the product itself.