Top Down Approach

The legendary Paul Rand, who is famous for his work at IBM, and a master of of the play on negative and positive space, is the source behind this ad. He masterfully grabs attention by his use of colors and bold illustrations to create an image that sticks out. The representation of a person holding binoculars is instantaneously recognizable, as are the shapes of a car and a roadway. These images evokes the notion that the person is on the look out and that traffic might have something to do with it. Since it is a very simplistic illustration with use of only four colors, there is not much distraction from the main illustration, and focus can be put on a top down approach to interpreting the message. By scanning the ad further, the message becomes clear as the headline explains the illustration further. As the eyes travel from the illustration, the brain struggles to solve the riddle it has produced, and as the headline explains the idea further, the riddle can be solved, and the observer can find satisfaction in understanding the message.