I found most of these signs/advertisements in Gaylord College! The first image was taken on Lindsey street before heading into Gaylord for a class. When I read about this assignment, I already knew Gaylord would be the perfect place to find a multitude of different examples for this because there are always flyers everywhere: from the bathrooms to the stairwells and hallways.
With the pictures I took I wanted to convey the concepts of use of space and message. I found that these five had similarities and differences when it came to these two concepts.
This billboard for the new residential colleges was the first time I had ever seen an advertisement for a residential building that was like this. I enjoyed the use of pictures to fill a majority of the board, which I think entices more people to stop and look at it. The use of space is used to its full potential because I think it portrays a minimalistic look, which is good for OU’s brand and image. This billboard definitely fulfills a proper message of showing people the future for the residential colleges and what they can expect to see. I believe this is more effective that having a list on display or a website link to a virtual tour because people will get excited if they see it right in front of them. 
The purpose for this flyer was obviously to catch a passer-by’s attention with the prospect of winning money. The use of space in this focused on appealing to someone that would not normally just stop and read it, instead by making the $500 line in a huge font with a different color than the rest of the text, it catches the eye. This also follows a minimalistic design but I feel as though it could have more information about the details at the bottom. Instead, the bottom of the flyer falls flat while the top has a standout image and bold text. If the message of this was simply to get people talking about the event and have them register for it, then I think its purpose is served. On the other hand, if the message is to promote the OU Women’s basketball team then it can easily get lost in translation. With this flyer, it’s difficult to grasp who and what is trying to be sold to people but I think the design does a good job at getting people’s attention. 
These two flyers are advertising the same class but the different images made me think they were for two different things until I read them. I feel as though the use of space is utilized but not done so effectively. The images are clearly the focus of the flyers but the texts get lost in how much is going on. In the first flyer, the name of the class gets lost in the image because of the lettering on the image. I think the use of space does a better job in the first flyer because it image focuses on 1-2 things: the hooded figure and the text, whereas the second flyer has the smoke and multiple people to look at. The space could be better utilized on the bottom half because it is not clear what the class is offering or supporting. If the message is to promote the class and get people to register for it, people can easily be confused wondering if the media criticism is towards censorship, as suggested in the first flyer or towards images, as suggested in the second flyer. 
Similar to the basketball flyer, this advertisement emphasizes large eye-catching text as their primary use of space. Again, this flyer used large text for attention and then wrote the details in smaller text, which I think is an effective use of space because it’s straight to the point and tells you everything you need to know. The use of small picture images to tell what is offered by the Vue is a good example of conveying as much though with little clutter and words. I think this is one of the best uses of space from the flyers I have found. As far as the message goes, it is strategic in getting people to stop and look at it and think of their housing. Even if people don’t know what the Vue is, putting the word “rent” and then the small pictures of what is offered allows people to properly assuming it’s student housing. Overall, I enjoyed analyzing this flyer the most because it maximizes design elements effectively.
