Simple As Sign Language

4 Pages 1032 Words

Simple as Sign Language

Upon opening the November issue of Guitar World I flipped passed an advertisement that appeared too plain to sell even a jar of mayonnaise. I flipped back and noticed it had no flashy bright colors, no bold and edgy letters, or even a half-naked lady on it. The advertisement does not even seem to pitch a specific product or event, just the general name of a company, ERNIE BALL. Any guitar player, novice or expert, would immediately know precisely that the company ERNIE BALL specializes in producing guitar strings. The unpretentious manifestation of the ad creates a visual hook for the audience and the dexterous arrangement is quite witty.
The background of the advertisement is extremely plain: it is a charcoal colored backdrop. The focus of the ad is what appear to be hands obviously exhibiting sign language. The hands look as though they have been illustrated upon the blackboard of my fifth grade classroom and portray simple hand signals to emphasize the austere setting of this situation. Interconnecting the hands are uncomplicated mathematical symbols. The symbols indicate that the first hand signal plus the second hand gesture equal the third one. The mathematical reference interlocks the characteristics of the ad assembling the idea without direct language, such as a complete sentence.
To begin this complete sentence the first hand gesture is that of a closed fist, which makes one wonder the possibly of this advertisement pertaining to black power. The second gesture is that of an open hand, ruling out the possible reference to black power, and possibly suggesting a Nazi based theme. In order to understand this ad, it would seem that one should know the basic hand signals of American Sign Language. The closed fist is equivalent to the letter E and the open hand is identical to the letter B. The mathematical signs fuse together the sign language portions; anyone who is well trained in mathematics woul...