Who Doesn't Like a Perfect Margarita?

The advertisement poster I created was for the annual Margarita Mile that takes place in March in Dallas, Texas. Amidst the unprecedented nature of 2020, filled with quarantine mandates and new health precautions to combat the spread of COVID-19, I felt that the promotion of a public event would be unique and challenging.

On the website of the Margarita Mile, they promote that their program has added extra safety measures to ensure that their participants feel safe. Such features include outdoor/patio seating, to-go orders, and mask requirements when not seated at a table. For the advertisement poster, I wanted to convey the message that the search for a good margarita does not only lie in the ingredients being used but also in the experience -- an experience that allows the attendees to enjoy themselves safely. While this seemed like a large message to convey on a quick poster, I believed that I needed to utilize symbols to the best of my ability. 

It did not take much contemplation to decide what symbol encompassed the societal shift in response to the virus -- the medical blue face mask. The requirement of face masks when going out into public has completely altered how people communicate with one another, face-to-face, or in this case "mask-to-mask". Intending to tell the audience what goes into a "perfect margarita", it was essential that I made the mask a needed "ingredient" for the margarita. Thus, the margarita set next to a mask on a surface portrays that the "perfect margarita" has all the normal ingredients, in addition to COVID-19 safety precautions.

Being the content creator, as opposed to the content consumer, gave me an entirely different view of how difficult it is for the creator to get their message across effectively. When creating the poster, I had to continually force myself to ask these questions: 1) Does this poster catch my eye? and 2) Is the message, at first glance, passed on correctly? Too many times did I create a poster that I thought looked cool and eye-catching but lacked the depth that I wanted my message to have on the audience. This lack of depth could be due to the sloppiness of the product or the presence of too many symbols on one page -- the message gets lost in the noise. The message is supposed to scream at the audience, not be a loud voice amongst a crowd of other loud voices.

What I felt worked well in my poster was the graphics and the uniqueness of how I conveyed the message. While I believe that this advertisement can be effective on a poster or paper, I know that a lot of my inspiration arose from Instagram advertisements I come across frequently. In the media and digital age we live in, brevity and vibrancy are what reigns supreme. I used the brightest colors to catch the attention of a viewer when they quickly scroll their screen and have a simple call to action that they could complete in under 5 seconds.

However, what could have been executed differently is focusing more on getting my message across without as many "moving parts" on my poster. At times I view my poster and feel as if I forced too many objects on one poster, but then also believe that there might not have been another way to achieve it. Overall, I am very proud of the final product, and has pushed me to gain new skills in different media marketing formats.