The present invention relates to a kinetic advertising board which inversely and generally conforms to the shape of a subject to be presented, as well as to a picture or image, so arranged on the surface that the projecting parts of a subject matter are positioned within the inwardly extending areas of said surface.
In advertising, many attempts have been made to draw attention by means of moving figures. It is true that the movement of mechanical equipment will be noticed but, as repeated according to a fixed pattern, it seldom creates permanent interest. The moving figures created by flashing lights lack the effect of realistic details. Acquisition, operation and maintenance of such equipment incur substantial costs. The same drawbacks apply to combinations of the above means as well as to impressions produced by projections.
German Patents 520 194 and 855 199 each disclose advertising boards of the type specified above by showing half-length pictures of a human being with various parts of the head being shaped somewhat plastically and negatively depthwise. The half-length pictures set out in these patents aim to create in a by-passing observer such an impression as an optical illusion that the head moves and turns in the direction an observer moves. However, these human figures fail to create the desired effect since the principle of inversely three-dimensional designing as such necessitates the use of rather low profiling, so that portions of the picture or image would not be covered by each other when said image is studied from a side. Due to the low dished shape, there is no time for sufficient relative reshaping between the central parts and frame areas of the face as an observer passes the image until the edge of said image begins to cover the figure and the desired optical illusion disappears. Furthermore, a dished cross-section and the lack of a background field result in that the thickness of a board is visible as a disturbing outline that has nothing to do with the subject matter.
An object of the invention is to provide a kinetic advertising board which draws public attention more effectively and preferably than the prior art advertising boards in which the movement of an observer is utilized.
In order to achieve this object, a kinetic advertising board of the invention is characterized by what is set out in the annexed claims.
The surface of the board is adapted to conform with the shape of a subject only in broad outline in a manner that the surface areas are arranged to form at least one inwardly extending recess or nook. The lines of an advertising board corresponding to the parallel lines of a subject matter are arranged so that their intersections lie in front of the advertising board at a certain distance from it. By means of the invention it is also possible to form large images of concrete subjects, such as persons, animals, vehicles, furniture, equipment, packages or other objects or geometrical bodies, said images taking apparently truthful shape from all observation angles and provide an impression of quick and continuous movement of the subject. According to the invention, a subject must be presented from such visual angle that one of the corners or some other prominent part of a subject is imaged to point towards an observer. In practice, an advertising board of the invention is embodied by using the opposite arrangement, said prominent part being positioned in the deepest recess of an advertising board thus providing an inwardly extending nook.
The parts of an advertising board closest to an observer must be shaped in the observer's fantasies as being farthest away, so those parts must be made smaller than the corresponding parts that are farther in the board. This line perspective correction is done by determining the minimum distance from which the advertising board is to work properly. At this range are selected intersecting points and, when preparing the board, all lines that are to seem parallel in a viewer's fantasies are directed at these points. The corresponding intersecting points are also selected when determining the horizontal and vertical lines of a board. When viewed from inside the minimum range, the image loses its credibility but the minimum range is always a compromise. If it has been determined very short, there are distortions at the boundaries of an observation sector regardless of the distance.
The angles between various parts of an advertising board need not comply with reality anywhere. An obtuse angle expands a viewing sector and at the same time slows down the impression of movement. An acute angle provides the same way a narrow sector but a figure reacting readily to the viewer's movements. As for the operation of the invention, it does not matter whether a viewer moves horizontally or vertically.
The most important of the perspective corrections is shaping a three-dimensional surface so that none of the essential prominent parts of a subject will be covered by the parts lying deeper in the subject, although in a board of the invention they are placed in a reversed position. For example, tip of the nose of a human image must not be covered by the cheek if the face is to be presented from the front and half-profile. Thus, the three-dimensional surface of a board is only adapted to conform roughly to the shape of a subject, the finer shaping being done by means of the shading of a picture. In some applications, the surface of a board is designed in a manner that the inwardly extending areas of the image representing the prominent parts of a subject are arranged to be seen in a different way when viewing the advertising board from different visual angles, some of the parts of a subject being arranged to be covered by other parts of an advertising board.
In normal lighting, the inversely three-dimensional surface of an advertising board is shaded exactly oppositely to what would be expected of the subject. In order to create an impression as truthful as possible, the aim, in addition to proper shaping and perspective correction of an advertising board, is to use colouration and shading to such an effect that, although the shadow areas required by the subject receive quite a lot of light in the advertising board, such areas still seem shady and, although the light areas of the subject receive comparatively little light, such areas still seem light. According to the invention, the inwardly extending areas of a picture representing the prominent parts of a subject are preferably adapted to be shaded so as to correspond to the real shading of a subject by intensifying the tone contrasts of the picture and by colouring those areas of the picture, which must appear light, with clean and fair colours.
An advertising board of parts thereof can in some applications be prepared from a transparent material, such as opalescent acrylic plastic, coloured at the light parts of a subject with transparent colours or an advertising board can be illuminated in a manner that the light arrives at the surface of a board evenly or from below. Normal lighting can be varied by means of artificial lights or light-reflecting surfaces. These measures serve the purpose that a board appears as truthful as possible.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, an advertising board is adapted to present a human figure or parts thereof and the board is designed in a manner that the sector provided by the surface edges and the inwardly penetrating surface area is less than 120°. Such an area is conical and if, for example, an advertising board represents a human head, the nook or recess designed for the nose forms the apex of said cone. In addition, some parts of a subject are adapted to be covered by other parts of an advertising board when the board is studied from a certain angle and, accordingly, when an advertising board is studied from another angle, some parts of a subject are adapted to cover other parts so as to produce a natural impression.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference made to the accompanying drawing, in which
Fig. 1 is a sectional orthogonally from above of a simple advertising board of the invention, showing in this example a product package as well as a viewer's observations thereof from two different visual angles. The board consists of two components: a three-dimensional surface 1 which complies substantially and inversely with the shape of a subject in a manner that, in this example, the planes representing the lid, side and face of a package produce an inwardly receding nook or recess, as well as of a picture or image 2 producing a detailed image of the subject and is affixed to surface 1 so that the prominent angle of the subject penetrates into the nook deep in the advertising board.
Each face of the board is designed in a manner that lines 11 corresponding to the parallel lines of a subject are adapted to intersect each other in front of the board at an intersection point 10 provided at a desired distance, the total number of such points being three, one for longitudinal, one for latitudinal and one for altitudinal lines.
An advertising board shown in Fig. 1 is positioned above the public, so that points 10 are higher up than a viewer's first observation spot at 3, from where his observation will be like a perspective view 4. By virtue of lines 11 directed at intersection point 10, a line 9 which is further away appears to be longer than a line 8 which is closer and the shape of an advertising board corresponds to a viewer's impression of a subject and it must be believed despite the irrational form of a board. Seen from a spot 5, a viewer's observation is like a perspective view 6. Since its proportions are in contradiction with the expectation created by observation 4, a viewer will interpret the phenomenon so that the figure represented by the advertising board turns and follows his movements.
The edges of surface 1 facing the viewer are chamfered sharp and darkened so as not to produce a disturbing outline. It is because of the deep and straight-lined shape of a board that the chamfers will not become visible until on the boundaries of an observation sector defined by point 10. The corner of said package, positioned in the nook of said advertising board, is unobstructedly visible through the entire by-pass of a viewer and proceeds during the by-pass over the entire picture area creating an impression of quick movement.
The details of a package image 2 are prepared by means of points 10 in a manner that parts of the picture closest to a viewer, e.g. letters, are smaller than the corresponding parts further away from a viewer. In addition, all parts follow the directions determined by points 10. The colouration and/or lighting of picture 2 is so arranged by accentuating the tone contrasts that the plane representing the package lid appears most lighted although, due to the abnormal shape of surface 1, said plane receives less light in normal lighting than the areas representing the sides of a package. Accordingly, the relatively abundant amount of light arriving at the planes representing the sides of a package has been taken into consideration, one of the sides being coloured with a highly colourful and the other with a strongly shaded tone. This type of colouring is necessary so that the picture would comply as closely as possible with a viewer's impression of the subject and that the outermost part of the subject, in this case a corner of the package, would be effectively pronounced since that part is what acts as an attention point creating an impression of movement. The colouration of the top surfaces of a subject, in this case the lid, must be effected with especially clean and bright colour tones.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, an automobile-representing advertising board is placed by the road in an inclined position in a manner that a viewer can see the entire inner surface of the advertising board as well as a picture or image 2 applied to the inner surface. In the figure, the external surface of an advertising board is shown dotted for the sake of clarity. The figure illustrates a situation where an advertising board may comprise a plurality of lines directed at an intersection point 10 as well as several inwardly extending nooks or recesses which in this example represent the forward corner of a car and the upper corner of the windscreen.
One of the intersection points 10 is shown in the figure, a second lies on the right in the direction determined by roof sides 12 and 13 and a third is underground in the direction of door outlines. The positioning of points 10 determines the extent of a viewing sector and the minimum range beyond which an advertising board works properly and conforms with a viewer's impression of the subject.
As for the subject including varying shapes shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary to consider in designing surface 1 that faraway components of the subject must not cover the essential prominent parts of said subject although such parts, according to the invention, will be set in a relatively inversed position. After all, the surface of an advertising board only conforms roughly to the shape of a subject while more delicate shaping and details is the duty of colouring and shading in Fig. 2. For example, the front bumper and the parts of the car body underneath must be presented in the same plane although, in reality, the bumper is the most prominent part of a car. The shading of this embodiment follows these principles.
In the embodiment of Fig. 3 an advertising board represents a human face. In this application, tip of the nose has been selected as a prominent part to be inserted in the deepest nook of an advertising board. Surface 1 conforms roughly to the shape of a human face but is especially designed for its purpose. What is essential for the invention is that the deep- inserted tip of the nose is unobstructedly visible to the boundaries of a viewing range and thus appears to be positioned half-profilewise near the outline of the head. This is achieved by designing the board surface 1 to be conical, e.g. the cheek- bones being considered lower than in reality and the recesses of the roots of the nose being ignored and tip of the nose being positioned in the bottom of said cone. The apex angle of said cone is more acute than 120°. Such shape of surface 1 offers a possibility of regulating the disappearance of certain parts of a subject and thus of intensifying the impression of movement.
Fig. 3 is sectioned at the height of the tip of the nose and drawn in the same vertical projection is the shape and position of the eyes and the position of the ears in an advertising board. Arrows 14 designate a viewer's first observation spot which lies at their intersection point and a perspective view 15 shows a viewer's observation from this spot. After a viewer has moved to a spot determined by arrows 16, his observation 17 indicates that the face appears to have turned into a half-profile to such an extent that certain parts have disappeared out of sight. It appears that the right-side ear is covered by the cheek and so is the right-side nostril covered by the tip of the nose. In reality, the ear has been covered by the background of the face and the nostril by the cheek by virtue of the special design of this advertising board. Another advantage gained by a deep conical shape is that the face does not become disturbingly narrow as seen from the boundaries of a viewing sector.
The lines corresponding to the parallel lines of a subject run on the surface of the embodiment set out in Fig. 3 parabolically and the extensions thereof would intersect each other on the same principle as that discussed above. In practice, this means that deeper-positioned details are relatively larger than the parts closer to a viewer. The same way, the colouration and shading of a picture follow the above principles. Fig. 4 is in principle like Fig. 3 and illustrates how to produce impressions different from the main impression of movement obtained by an advertising board of the invention. The eyes of a board representing a face have been adjusted for their shape and position so that a viewer on the left experiences the eyes pointing at himself while a viewer, who has moved to the right, observes that the look of a person presented by the board is directed at a nearby target on the right, e.g. a displayed product.
Fig. 5 shows the same way how in one embodiment of the invention the eyes of convex design, positioned on a board of the invention, give the viewer an impression that the eyes of a person presented by the board are constantly directed at the viewer regardless of the position and other impression of movement of the board.
It will also be noted that an advertising board of the invention may include a flat surface, as in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The parts of a picture positioned thereon naturally preserve their mutual proportions from different viewing angles, the board components of the invention appearing to move relative to the flat surface patterns.
Pictures or images of the invention can be prepared e.g. by photographing the subject from certain angles and/or by preparing the pictures by a per se known method, e.g. by printing.