Denver Ad Club Analysis, "You Cannot Hide"

The antagonist stands in the upper, right corner of the visual. He is a dark, shadowed
profile. The warm tones that encompass this faceless character provide definition and
draw in your attention first.

The protagonist crouches below a set of stairs in the lower left corner drenched in a
pool of cool colors consisting of blue and white with tones of light blue. The shades of
lighter blue and white draw in your eye to enhance the man's body position, creating an
added sense of fear.

Green dominates the entire left side of the ad to fuse the warm and cool palettes
together, as well as adding separation to the two emotions created. Green evokes the
feelings of envy, jealousy and guilt. This could be an indication of why the protagonist is
crouching to hide below the stairs.

Chilliprinting.com says," We all have different reactions to certain colors just as we have
different preferences. However, there exist generalities as to how color stimulates us and
whether we realize it or not, we associate key concepts with given colors."

The black shadow of the antagonist introduces control and adds dramatic effects of
melancholy and death. The yellow and orange surrounding the black figure add a
dramatic outline and evoke emotions of anger and frustration.

The darker navy blues that surround the protagonist offer a sense of loneliness, coldness
and anxiety. The highlights of lighter blue tones and white outline the body position of
the man's crouch and indicates isolation.

The two characters and their emotions are separated by a green negative space which
also fuses the colors together. " It balances both the emotional and the logical and is
the color that most often occurs in nature."(https://www.chilliprinting.com/online-
printing-blog/use-color-psychology-emotions-poster/amp/).

The color relationship that best describes this advertisement is triadic. There are yellows,
blues and greens which are evenly spaced around the color wheel. The positioning of
where these palettes live on the poster are also in a triangular shape.

"Because of the strong contrast, a triadic palette is generally quite dramatic," says
Kimberly Sayers of The Spruce. This is the predominant emotion that is first instilled
upon sight of this particular visual.
Color symbolism in this poster is relevant in the emotion behind the color green with
feelings of envy and misfortune. Also with the color yellow surrounding the shadowed
figure, we feel a sense of hazard and ill intention.

The relevance of temperature associated with emotion is true with the warm vs. cool
symbolism. Warm is often a warm and stimulating tone. This is related to the
antagonists personality portrayal in being of harm and fear. Cool tones in this
advertisement, however, usually create more space in a visual and add a calming effect.
The protagonist is hiding in isolation and is in a smaller space under the stairs.

WORKS CITED

Bartosch, Kimberly Sayers. "Triadic Color Schemes for Bedrooms." TheSpruce, 23

July

2019, www.thespruce.com/triadic-color-schemes -for-bedrooms-350603.

Chapman, Cameron. "Color Theory 1 for Designers: The Meaning of Color." 28 Jan
2010

www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/color-theroy-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-
of-

color.

"How To Use Color Psychology to Trigger Emotions With Your

Poster." chilliprinting.com

2017. www.chilliprinting.com/online-printing-blog-/use-color-psychology--emotions-

poster/amp/.