In the world of mass media and advertising the visual text is quintessential to the success of a campaign and drawing in consumers in general. In the print advertisement, Gold Lion: Crisis Relief Singapore, the company is essentially pulling at the heart-strings of viewers to try to persuade them into volunteering and making an "actual" difference as opposed to simply expressing sympathy on social media. To communicate the desired message of the company, the designer implemented specific and intentional use of color, typography and copy, and photographic perspective. 

In the world of art and visual design, color is one of the most effective means of communication. The use of different color palettes can set the subconscious stage of the consumer for an array of different emotions, attitudes and points of view. In this particular advertisement the designer utilized a grayscale filter to create a sense of urgency and tragedy. The overall lack of color and saturation amplifies the lifeless, desolate message of the ad, making the image of the dying child that much more distressing. If the image was presented in the color it was photographed in, or even enhanced to be more vibrant, the advertisement wouldn't yield the same emotional response. The high contrast of the black and the white not only increase the severity of the message but the lack of color doesn't distract from the message of the image. They want 'you' to look at that boy's face, they want 'you' to feel what he is feeling, they want 'you' to relate to him to the extent that you feel compelled to help him and all of the other children doomed to similar fates. For this advertisement color is one of the strongest elements of design being employed, affecting the message and the reception of the composition.

Typography is the art of manipulating different fonts, among other unique and specific tools, and stylizations to transform the overall message of copy without changing the copy itself. Copy is the text in an advertisement. This ad in particular has very few words, only nine to be specific, so each of them needs to effectively convey the message of the advertisers, and typography enhances the retinal response of these words. Social media has become a platform for many people to present a refined version of themselves, and many people will "like" or "share" tragic posts about animals or natural disasters to appear to be worldly or sympathetic to the plights of others. In this specific advertisement those people are being targeted directly, in hopes of arousing more out of them other than the click of a mouse. The text itself, reading "Liking isn't helping." And "Be a volunteer. Change a life." Immediately delivers the message of the advertisement, but the use of a retro, inkblot, grungey typewriter font brings to mind a sort of hastily put together S.O.S message. These mental associations help to further the message of the dire straits that these people are in. The use of this typeface helps to put us into their world and feel what they are feeling, which is important since this company is relying on the mechanism of sadness to guilt to sympathy to (hopefully) heroism. The position of the text within the picture plane makes it seem like the boy's mother is the one telling us, like it's a speech bubble positioned perfectly above her head. The text in the bottom right corner is like the voice of the crowd encouraging us to help them and others who aren't pictured. Overall, the use of typography greatly impacts the message of the advertisement and enhances the overall quality of the image.

Perspective is an extremely important concept to consider when planning an advertisement or just a photoshoot in general. The audience, be they viewer or consumer, only sees what the photographer or designer wants them to see in an image. In this ad specifically the audiences can choose to play four different roles in the world of the CRS advertisement. They can choose to place ourselves into the role of the bystander to a nondescript tragedy, acting as a third party to the suffering of the two main subjects. They could also choose to include themselves into the semicircle of thumbs ups, expressing sympathy but ultimately remaining uninvolved. The difference between the first and the second role is that in the first we are presented with a choice, whereas the role of the latter has already decided to carry on in complacency. The set-up of this image is so important because if it were to be imagined as a clip from a film or commercial what would the next frame be? Ideally, the CRS want it to be the viewer calling for help or doing some sort of first-aid to resuscitate the boy, they want 'you' to bring the color and life back into this world the audience is temporarily included in. The third role that the female audience members can assume in this snapshot is that of the mother/woman holding the child, they can let themselves feel the fear and agony that this woman is inevitably feeling at the injured and ultimately dying child in her arms. Lastly, the audience can place themselves in this world as the boy, lying helpless in his mother's arms as the world comes to an end around him. Perspective plays such an important role in this photograph because there are so many different ways for us to be engaged on a deeper level by the designers.

In conclusion, this composition is an extremely effective means of advertising, and of a visual text in general. The designer's use of color emphasizes on the face of the child and doesn't distract from the message. The consideration for typography and text gives the viewer a sense of urgency and the immediate need for help, as well as showing them the hollowness of their actions. The specific perspective of the advertisement allows the viewer to place themselves into the world of this image in a variety of different ways, granting an equally large variety of opportunities for emotional response and positive action. The message of this advertisement is clear and there is no explicit hidden or underlying message. The CRS want people to stop simply 'liking' tragic posts on social media and wants them to actually make a difference in the lives of others and make the choice to volunteer and help the people of Singapore, and they persuade the viewer to do so by appealing to the human response to save children. 

