Reimagined

Tiffany Carey

Tiffany Carey is a digital marketer, that specializes in the areas of social media, digital media, photography, and marketing. She will be graduating with honors in May 2021 from The College of New Jersey, with a B.A. in Interactive Multimedia and a minor in Marketing. She is the current Director of Media Relations for TCNJ Lions Gaming, which is one of the largest clubs on campus. The club hosts a variety of competitive and casual events for the video game community at the college, including esports. As the Director of Media Relations, Tiffany is responsible for all social media accounts for the club and has developed an understanding of the target audience. The education she has received and the experience she has gained as Director of Media Relations, has enhanced her desire to pursue a career in the realm of digital marketing or social media.

Located: Wall Township, New Jersey

Contact Info

About Reimagined

Reimagined looks to recreate classic print advertisements from the 1940s era. The vintage aesthetic and visuals once made these advertisements a staple of the advertising world. However, these classic ads do not embody today’s modern ideals and can be considered questionable for the traits they display. The recreated advertisements in Reimagined, will be modernized to encompass the society of today and dispel the outdated depictions that the old advertisements may have exhibited. My modernized recreations of these advertisements, will be found on here and on my portfolio.

My Process

My process for my thesis project, consisted of a variety of steps. First, I had to research and find online, the print advertisements that I wanted to modernize. I then had to save the images and the links to the advertisements, to be able to properly credit their source. Second, I studied the print advertisements and came up with a rough idea of how I wanted to modernize it. From there, I then had to search online to find the necessary images needed to create my modernized version of it. I also then saved these images and their corresponding links to credit their source. Next, I then begin to create my modernized version of the advertisement in Adobe Photoshop. In Photoshop, I had numerous edits that I had to do to make my modernized advertisement come to life. For example, using the different filters offered in the Filter Gallery on the images. While working on the modernized advertisements, I found that trying to find the correct combination and ratio of the filters was key. Once satisfied with my modernized version of the advertisement, I then have been uploading them to my portfolio and this website.

Old vs. Modernized Advertisements

 This Advertisement is one of the most popular from this time period, especially the model who is has been nicknamed “Rosie the Riveter”. Due to this reason, I did not want to replace the model or change the advertisement too much. However, I decided I wanted to modernize Rosie, so that she may resemble someone from modern day and that you wouldn’t see back then. To do this, I add and changed several components on her. I added the spotted beanie, the nose ring, the tattoo’s, the arrow ring, the wave ring, and the earring. I also changed her nail color to red, and I changed her shirt to be plaid. Overall, I’m very happy with the final product of this modernize advertisement. I feel that it keeps the essence of the original Rosie, but represents modern change.

Links to Images used: Advertisement, Beanie, Nose Ring, Earring, Arrow Ring, Wave Ring, Tattoo,

With this advertisement, I attempted to find the modern equivalent of the original model. I quickly decided that the modernized model, would be a sports player due to the original model holding the beach ball. Since I am a soccer fan, I first started looking at famous female soccer players to use for the modernized advertisement. I decided upon Alex Morgan, who is currently one of the most famous players on the U.S. Soccer Team. I found an image online that had Alex Morgan in a similar pose style as the original model. I also decided to switch out the glass bottle of Coke for a can of Coke, since it is one of the more common ways to drink Coke today. To do this, I had to also replace the hand that would be holding the Coke. When editing the advertisement, I did not want to replicate the style completely since it is a modernized version of the advertisement. While editing though, I did run into some issues due the quality of the pictures and how pixelated they were. Overall, I hope that the modernized advertisement displays the power and athletic ability that females possess, which the original advertisement lacked. 

Links to images used: Coke Advertisement, Alex Morgan, Coke Can, Hand

With this Coca-Cola Advertisement, I attempted to modernize it by replacing the model. Back in the 1940s, the models all looked similar and did not represent everyone in our society. In my modernized advertisement, I chose to replace the model with Academy Award winning Actress, Lupita Nyong’o. I wanted to display a famous figure that shows the ideals of today. While editing the advertisement, I also chose to change the appearance of the Coke Bottle. Nowadays, it is more common to see a plastic Coke Bottle than a glass bottle. To do this, I also had to find an image of Lupita’s arm in a similar pose because the picture of Lupita that I used did not display her arms at all. I was able to find an image online of Lupita with her arms out and grasping, that I was able to edit for my advertisement. While editing the images, I faced similar issues as mentioned previously. The quality of the photos were not the best, which caused them to be pixelated some. Overall, I am happy with how my modernized advertisement turned out. While there are improvements that can be made in the future, I feel that it embodied my main idea and style that I had for this advertisement.

Links to images used: Advertisement, Arm, Coke Bottle, Lupita Nyong’o

With this Advertisement, I attempted to find a model that would have been shocking to those back in the 1940s time period. Due to the nature of the advertisement, it was an obvious choice to look at female race car drivers to replace the original model. I decided upon one of the most well-known and famous female drivers of our time, Danica Patrick. My next change was to replace the glass bottle of Coke. I decided to replace it with a plastic bottle of Coke, since it is what you typically would find today. I then had to copy, cut, and edit Danica’s hand, so that it look like she was holding the Coke bottle from the top. Finally, I also slightly updated the wording of “Drive Refreshed” to try and make it pop more. Similar to the other advertisements I did, I had a problem with the quality of the photos and pixelization. This advertisement actually took me the longest to do, even though pixelization looking worse overall. I finally had to accept that it was something that I couldn’t fix entirely to my liking and then completed the advertisement. Overall, while it may have not been my desired outcome and I would like to edit it more in the future, I am still excited over the differences the two advertisements show in our society now compared to the 1940s.

Links to images used: Advertisement, Coke Bottle, Danica Patrick Driving

With this advertisement, I knew I wanted to change the gender stereotype of this depiction by changing the gender of the model used. I also knew that I wanted to keep the boxing gloves a part of the advertisement but have them be ones you could find today. When searching online, I found a girl that I thought would be a suitable replacement for the original model. She wasn’t overly smiling in her photo, which was great since I wanted her to look slightly tough. Also, I thought her arms were positioned perfectly to be able to hold boxing gloves. I then searched online for an image of boxing gloves that I liked and went with the classic red gloves. I then edited the photos in Photoshop, where I then tried to get the photos to a similar art style as the original advertisement. Afterwards, I then edited the shadow on the ground to account for the girl’s new pose with her foot sticking out. Seeing the outcome of this photo, I feel like it may be my favorite out of all the advertisements I have done. Overall, while it may not match the original advertisement perfectly, I feel like the modernized advertisement fits the aesthetic of the original.

Links to images used: Advertisement, Girl, Boxing Gloves

Impact of COVID-19

It was unavoidable that the pandemic would cause some problems and roadblocks with my thesis project. My original idea for “Reimagined”, actually had to be completely modified. In the Fall semester, I came up with the idea of modernizing old advertisements from the 1940s era so they represented our society today. My project still embodies and maintains this ideal. However, I was originally planning on taking pictures of all the images that I planned to use in my project, not use images I found online. I had planned on finding the necessary objects to take pictures of, so that the quality of the images was to my liking. The main issue was that I planned on using real people to model for the images, so I would have to take pictures of them in-person. Thinking the logistics of this over, I realized it wouldn’t be feasible to do this. At the time, we were still trying to keep our distance from others, and we were not vaccinated yet. Also, being at home during the pandemic, would make it harder to find people to take pictures of. If I was on campus, I could ask friends to help me or send out an invite for people to meet me somewhere. The pandemic changed all of this though, and i had to adapt. In November, a friend of my suggested that I find images online and use them for my thesis project. She said this would also allow my thesis to use noteworthy people, like celebrities. Taking her suggestion, I modified my idea for “Reimagined” and the outcome is now displayed on this website. While I did run into additional issues from Covid-19 throughout the two semesters, having to rethink the logistics for my thesis idea was the main roadblock the I faced from the pandemic.

Challenges & Reflecting

Looking back at my project and the progress that I made, I am overall satisfied at the end result. While there are definite improvements that I want to make in the future, the end result still maintains my main idea. My thesis was created to modernize old print advertisements, so that they encompass the society of today. I believe that the end product represents that sentiment, and I believe I achieved my vision for the project. However, I did face more challenges than I thought I would when making this project. I originally wanted to have more modernized advertisements completed to display at the Senior Showcase. When making my project, I stumbled upon issues that I had to account for. For example, I was making an advertisement and was just not liking how it was looking. It was not turning out like I had envisioned, and I could not fix it. For that reason, I decided to scarp that entire advertisement. Then there were countless trials and errors that I encountered when editing the advertisements. Each advertisement took up more time than I realized. These challenges though, did not completely stop me from creating my thesis. Overall, I believe my thesis was successful in displaying society of today, in modernized versions of print advertisements.