Homeless Charities

The bright green colour brings attention to the poster. The white text along with the green contrasts nicely against the dark background. This makes it stand out more and is the main attraction on the poster. The copy has been made the main focus because it is the part that makes people think and spreads the message. Usually that message is to donate but on this particular ad is telling people to notice the homeless and report them to the charity so they can go out and help them. Charities don’t just need money, they need information. They want to help as many homeless people as they can but can’t if they don’t know where they are. This is why this ad asks you to call them in, it is another way of helping without having to give them money, which is good as most people don’t want to part with their money. The bold copy helps it to stand out and makes it easier to read. The simple font also makes it easy to understand and complements the simplicity of the poster and message. If you see someone sleeping in the streets don’t just walk past, at least tell someone about them, it’s that simple. The faded parts of the text goes with the street vibe. It’s like it was written with spray paint, the paint doesn’t fill in fully and if used on wide letters then parts will be missing just like the font on the advert. It also fits because the streets are old, wasted and falling apart in some places which makes them not fit for somewhere to live. This message is portrayed via the image too. The wall behind the man is falling apart and not safe, other parts of the wall could fall off while the man is sleeping and hurt him.The image also shows the reality of homelessness. Sleeping on cardboard boxes and using whatever you can use as a pillow. If it was raining you wouldn’t have a cover to shield you. You would get wet and ultimately ill. The overall effect of the ad is that homelessness is dark and mean and something no one wants. People who are homeless want help and we should give it to them as we are better off than them. This charity is trying to promote that slightest of things could mean the world to someone. The only thinking wrong with the ad is that it doesn’t say which charity it belongs to.

This advert is has the logo at bottom right hand corner, the last place the eyes look while looking at a piece of paper. This means the name of the charity is the remaining in the audiences mind once they walk away from the poster.The first thing they see is the picture of family which catches the publics attention and then drags it to the point of the advert. The image used is a picture of a family, a happy family. The filter that has been applied to the image emphasis’ the colour in the image. The main colour is red due to the colour scheme of the charity. This merges in the campaign nicely, if all ads have red in them then people will be able to tell they are apart of the same project. The colour red symbolises strength and determination. Two things charities and homeless people need. Homeless people need this to survive and charities need this to help people so red is a very suitable colour to have as a colour scheme.

They have used this image as it is heart warming. A family playing together having fun, one thing everyone wants is to be happy. They then look at the statement ‘Do you believe everyone should have a home?’ and their mood changes. They start to realise that not everyone is able to have this. Not everyone is able to live in a good home with people who love them. This breaks people’s hearts and makes them want to help people have homes like this, particularly kids. They used white copy to stand out from the dark red bricks. The font is simple and easy to read which helps get the message across. It makes it easier to understand and doesn’t pull any attention away from the cause.

The website has an open page (to the right) which acts as an advert itself. It has the red aspects on the page but not as much as the poster. The main colour is black to symbolise how depressing homelessness is and how negative it is. They have used a little girl again to get to peoples hearts and sort of trick them into donating. They have included some statements that hold information about the charity and the facts about homelessness. At the bottom there is an option to an area specific website. They mainly work in England and Scotland but they have pages for Wales and Ireland to get advice. The are trying to help people who aren’t even in there area. The internet has enabled charities to help out more people than they usually could. Underneath the ad is information on how to contact the area specific helpline and the address of the main building. This is if you want more information or know of someone who is homeless then you can ring up Shelter and report them so they can get help.

Shelter

The colour scheme of the actual website (for England) fits in with the rest of the campaign. They have added lighter shades of grey so it is easier to read the writing. Also having the page mostly dark can be off putting for some people. Again, they stay with the simple statements that consume the publics brains. The biggest part of the home page is another ad, but one that includes a link. They have used black and white tones to keep the ad simple and not draw an attention away from the point, which is to try and change the way government deals with people losing their jobs. Most adults become homeless due to losing their jobs so if the government give them a safety net then less people will become homeless. They are trying to stop homelessness from its roots. At the bottom left of the ad they have ‘#safetynet’ which links them to twitter. Encouraging people to tweet about it and spread the word further. Using twitter also keeps them up to date and they can promote their charity for free. At the bottom of the page they have all the links to their social networking sites, again getting free advertisement and helping to spread the word. If someone likes the page on facebook it will appear on their timeline and everyone they are friends with will see it.

They also have sections on how to donate to the charity. The ‘get involved’ page shows people all the different ways people can help raise money. Because they are a big well known charity they have merged with some stores that will donate when people shop online and have the right plug-in. They are also able to have their own shop where people donate furniture (west midlands only), the other stores have the usual clothes etc. for sale. They have a news page to keep people up to date with what their money is being spent on. It also inspires more people to donate. When you give evidence of what the charity does more people will want to donate because they know where their money is going and the joy it brings. People get happiness out of seeing what their contribution has done. They also have a page for their campaigns and the reasons behind them which will help the public to understand and support the cause.

Crisis has done a very effective yet cheap advert. All they used is a cardboard box and two marker pens. A black one because it stands out the most, and a red one because it is their colour scheme. The line about the snow pulls people in, most people enjoy the snow when it first comes. ‘Loving the snow?’ people will then want to continue reading as they are unsure what the sign is about. Because its bold it’s the first thing you see and it gets your attention. You think ‘Yeah ,I am enjoying the snow why?’ and walk over to the cardboard to read on. Just like Shelter they have made the audience happy before dropping the message on them. Because they make them happy and then sad it will make the public feel sadder than they would if they never raise their spirits in the first place. The reality of homeless hits the public, they don’t realise people have to sleep in that type of weather. The public don’t know how bad homelessness is because they don’t see it. They don’t see all the people sleeping on the streets and how much of a struggle it is.They then have their plea and the website. This is another difference between Shelter and Crisis, Crisis has included information about what they what the public to do and how to contact them while Shelter hasn’t. They are expecting the public to go find out the information themselves. They trust that the advert has made people want to help so much that they are willing to search the internet to find out how. The website is written in bold red letter because this is their logo. They have mixed the logo and website into one which provides more information in less space which is important while advertising. People don’t want to read a lot and if they see a lot of writing then they are likely to just ignore it.Although it doesn’t have an image I don’t think it needs one to portray the message. An image speaks a thousand words but less is more especially when you are trying to get someone to understand and get a point across to them.

Both Shelter and Crisis have red as their colour scheme because it symbolises the emergency service they provide. They help people and ultimately save their lives.

Crisis (Comparison)

Crisis have local news so you can find the one relevant for you. They only feature the new events on the home page but they do have a sidebar with all the different cities they help. Unlike Shelter they have used different colours for some of the tabs on the homepage to draw more attention of them. Orange and Green have been added to their colour scheme to help make important links stand out. The red has still been included to help link the other advertises to the campaign. Links to their social networking sites are at the top and the bottom of the page. This is so people can find the links no matter where they are on the site. They are also on the sidebar on the homepage so you can click on them after you have read the information you wanted.

SASH have been around for 20 years and have recently rebranded. They changed their logo from red to green because red is associated with danger. Green is seen to be calm, safe and welcoming. They chose red at first because they are an emergency service but the logo didn’t let people know who they were and what they did. The new logo allow the public to know that they have something to do with houses. Having the slogan placed next to it let them know that it is to do with helping the homeless and trying to prevent people from living on the streets.

This is the top of the website. Their colour scheme is green along with the odd pink and blue. The most important part is in a separate box to everything else making it stand out so your eye is drawn to it. Helping people out is the most important thing to them that is why where to go if your homeless for the night is in the pink box. If someone needs help they don’t have time to look around the site for the information they want. This is why having it in a different coloured box that stands out is good. They have placed their social networking links at the top of the page. This is to ensure that everyone sees them, placing them at the bottom can be risky as not many people go that far down the page. SASH has placed a link to sign up to a newsletter at the top of the page so it’s one of the first thing people see. Newsletters will let the public now how the charity is doing and what events are going on. If you are a volunteer and want to keep up to date but don’t have time to check the website everyday the newsletter is perfect. Having it in a green box brings more attention to it while keeping in with the colour scheme. Using green doesn’t pull away too much attention from the pink box with more important information in. The website also has lots of different pages. The biggest links that are more noticeable are kinda like their FAQ’s. What they do, the impact they’ve had, how to help and how to get in touch. These are the main questions what answering when it comes to charities and they have focussed them so people can easily find the answer. They have similar links above these but they go into more detail for the people who are interested and are willing to stay in the site that little bit longer. On the website they include images of the people they have helped. Happy youthful pictures to show the positivity of the cause. They have used colour images to show its not all doom and gloom, especially if help is provided. The arrows they use to hold the links in are their logo turned on its side. So again they are keeping up with the brand and theme to allow it to flow better.