Forever 21 Billboard Analysis

Forever 21 is an American chain of fashion retailers that sell clothing and accessories. With sales of $3.7 billion in 2013, Forbes ranked Forever 21 as the 122nd largest private company in America. Since it was founded in 1984 and only existed in one store in Los Angeles, the company has experienced a large growth over the last 30 years as it now has stores in 480 locations.

As Forever 21 is still expanding, it's customer base is also expanding as it is becoming a fashion department store that is catering to all member of the family instead of just teens. This means that it is starting to target men and older demographics. However it's main target consumer is still female 18 - 24 year olds as it is still a large teen retailer.

This particular billboard has been designed to advertise Forever 21 as a brand rather than a specific product that they are selling; this could be due to the fact that unlike Gucci, Forever 21 aren't as well known so need to promote their product before any specific products. This means that the billboard has to represent their brand as a whole rather than having it designed to a something more specific. Because of this, the logo is an important part of the billboard. The way that it has been incorporated on the billboard has allowed it to fit with the symmetrical design of the imagery. The font of the logo is very simple but modern and is very straight forward. The same font has been used to write the web address at the bottom of the billboard.

The imagery on this billboard represents modern fashion with a symmetrical style. The photography is studio based and has kept a plain background instead of incorporating an edited one like the Gucci billboard. The mirrored effect that has been done to the image is very fashionable as this is a common effect that people use when editing their own photographs on apps on their phone before uploading to social media sites such as Instagram. The 'V' in the word 'Forever' aligns with the model's arms which suggests that the design of the billboard was thought about, even though it is quite simple.

The only colours used in the image are the ones of the clothes of the model. These colours are orange and a pastel pink, which suggest that Forever 21 cater for mainly younger demographics because of the bright coloured clothing and use of an unnatural colour in the models hair. 

The model used for the image looks around the age of 21, so therefore represents the target consumer of the brand as well as the name of the company. She is modelling a young style of clothing that is most probably something that the brand is selling. The way she is posing suggests that she has a care-free attitude which is something that youths are supposed to have. She also looks like she could be a trouble maker, but the colours connote fun, which links with Dick Hebdige's 'mixed metaphor' theory when he describes 'youth as fun', and 'youth as trouble maker'. Also, because the model is female and is posing in this way, it could also link to Mulvey's theory that women are used as 'objects of sexual desire'.

The layout of this billboard is quite simple yet effective, in that there is a main image used with the logo across the middle, but the placing has been thought about so that they are in line. The layout is aesthetically pleasing as it has an even amount of text and imagery.

To conclude, this design fits well to it's purpose of advertising a youthful brand. My billboard will have to be similar in that it will have to represent my 'company' instead of one product in particular. Similar to the Gucci billboard, Forever 21 have represented their target consumer throughout all design aspects, which is something that I will have to do for my own billboard.