Asahi Adverts from Behance

I decided to go and take a look on Behance network to see if I could find some different advert designs by creatives promoting Asahi beer in different creative fields to see variation in themes and see how they relate the brand to the cultural visuals.

Elaine McCrudden on behance created these adverts for an advertising campaign that ran on London transport and in pubs and clubs, they have been printed as underground station posters, post cards and taxi seat backs ads and posters. In the poster on the left she has reused the idea of using a female figure and again with the historical geisha theme. The model is centered and her red lipstick has been smudged and is also on her index finger which is holding the bottle, from this I would say the idea is that the bottle smudged her lipstick or she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand after having a drink which could be a sign of satisfaction from the drink, almost like the idea of a geisha treating herself by unwinding with alcohol after a long day of working. I think this definitely promotes lager as originally being a drink made for women.

Both of the posters typography has an oriental, squarely typeface and the style of speech feels very formal and addresses the audience in a respectful manner, this style of speech is typically associated with asian culture, using metaphoric phrases and figure of speech. I may use this technique for typography in my promo. The way the typography is written from top to bottom down one side is also in relation to how the japanese write their characters in in letters and books from top to bottom in vertical lines rather than from left to right in horizontal lines. The poster on the right is of a person in a kendo uniform they are placed off centre to the right and the angle is a profile shot of them, this conceals the identity of the person as well as the gender since all you can see is the side of the nose and mouth poking out of the helmet, this promotes the drink towards audience of both genders but I feel it is more masculine because kendo is a modern japanese sport which descended from swordsmanship.

This is another advert for Asahi for promotion in Vietnam for new years by a creative on Behance which I really liked because of the strong link between the drink and the iconic cultural aspects. I like how this advert doesn't follow the idea of using a female figure or any model at all which is signature to Asahi. Instead they decided to just use imagery of the product itself and making it the main focus. They have used imagery which associates with japanese culture and asian new years festivities. The cherry blossoms that look as if they're being carried in the air by a breeze is very effect and relate high as cherry blossom trees grow commonly and is natural to the nature throughout japan. The decorative paper fans spread out on either side of the cans look like wings and connect to japanese geisha and the katana swords on the ends of the fans relate to japan's historical warriors and samurai. Above the cans in the background is Mt.Fuji and behind there is also a red circle. This red circle symbolises the japanese flag which is white with a red circle in the middle it also associates with japan being known as the land of the rising sun as it looks like a sun rising from behind the snowy mountain. The white/ gray background also acts as part of the flag. I like the silky red ribbon used to tie the cans together as I feel it shouts new years in relation to asian culture as red is considered a lucky colour on new years in many asian countries and brings you prosperity and wealth. The over all feel of the poster is very oriental and strongly identifiable as japanese as the elements are so strong and effective that they wouldn't be easily confused as chinese or korean cultural imagery.

Another creative on Behance named Joe Cai illustrated some promotional posters for Asahi breweries with an 'ukiyo-e' art style. Ukiyo-e is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings flourished in Japan primarily from the 17th to 19th centuries. These posters make use of vibrant rich colours and subtle grainy or stained textures and patterned elements to achieve this style. The posters are brimming with many strong cultural elements in relation to japan's historical periods by using imagery of sumo, people in traditional attire, koi fist and the iconic swirly drawing style that is used for depicting liquid or smoke. The post on the left uses a simple background and isn't too over crowded with objects and mainly focuses on the two sumo who are intensely glaring at each other. I find the idea of the beer coming out from the top of the bottle and forming smoke clouds fits well with the imagery of the tiger and the dragon incased within the smoke, and the fiery colours behind them, because feel that it symbolises strength which is a key point for sumo wrestling, but i also think it is a symbolisation of war and victory because it reminds me of the Sengoku war or the warring states period which lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century and there was much military conflict and political dispute. This period would eventually lead to the unification of the political power under the Tokugawa Shogunate (Military commander).

This is the line art of a design he never took through to finalising, even so I still really like this idea as it goes back to the way Asahi has always visually used women to promote their brand in posters and I think this traditional take on it is something different compared to most of the existing posters which have a modern theme. I may take this idea of using a geisha holding a pint of lager as imagery for my menu screen and changing the art style so that it includes a mix of the modern manga culture from japan and still endorses some traditional cultural elements like patterns and texture. I also really like the hand drawn patterned elements on the clothing but i think if i were to hand draw my patterns it would take up a lot of time so instead i will be using ready made patterns from japanese origami paper for that cultural feel.