Advertising is the most compelling medium of mass appreciations we have ever known. Because advertising is seen everywhere, it can be very easy to forget that only a few sorts of ideas ever do get printed (the school of life). Advertising budgets are reserved for large areas of modern life such as the ads on cereal bars, bus stops, hand sanitizers, billboard ads, the package of the ice cream tub you just bought. The art in design plays an important role in the advertising industry, it can be tempting to say that good design can not really matter that much, but I’m arguing that it does, desperately so, design matters because our identities and moods are fluid and shifting and its often “the quality of the designed environment that determines whether we’ll feel confident or defeated, at ease or guarded, generous-spirited, or alienated”(the school of life).
Advertising is graphic design, and in so many ways, graphic design is advertising. Every printed form of advertising is in some way or another, simple or complex, the result of graphic design. A graphic designer is someone who uses graphics or symbols to communicate a message. This can be done in numerous ways, it can be done in motion graphics, posters, print, and through corporate messaging. One way to understand what artists and graphic designers do is to think that they are, in their own way of running advertising campaigns” this small excerpt by the School of Life introduced this new way of thinking about the artists position and their purpose of creating, but for the many things that are at once of huge human importance and constantly in danger of, being forgotten.
But essentially it is about communicating ideas with visuals and words. It seems like us as humans always had an inherent drive towards art, evidenced by the early cave paintings dating back prehistoric times (Ellis) documenting the movement and interactions of everyday events with visuals. To British artist, David Hockney, he decided to run a major advertising campaign for trees, showcasing paintings preserving three trees painted from precisely the same spot during the winter and summer of 2007 (Curiartor).
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The Invention of the Gutenberg press paved the way for more commercial uses of advertising, which stimulated and spread new ideas quicker than ever. The mass production of books and posters became easier, cheaper and much more widely accessible for everyday folks and artists. In 1869, the first advertising agency was founded by N.W Ayer & Son. (Ellis) There was always that creative barrier, no color just black and white.
Technological advancements continued to fuel the progression of graphic design, such as the ability to print in color, or chromolithography. While used primarily for recreating paintings for home decor, chromolithography also opened new doors for advertising (Ellis). Brands are now able to use a prominent color palette, this enabled realism, allowing the day and use of colors in an artistic and expressive way. World War I produced one of the most memorable pieces of propaganda. Painted by U.S. illustrator James Montgomery Flagg, the U.S. recruiting poster that depicts a commanding Uncle Sam pointing his finger at the viewer and urging young men to enlist in the war effort. “The image first appeared on the cover of the July 6, 1916, issue of Leslie’s Weekly magazine with the title”What Are You Doing For Preparedness?”” (Knauer).
In the last 5 years with design and democracy, graphic design has become democratized. Nowadays, people are skeptical of branding because of the fear it will compromise their independence of thought and critical thinking. This brings up the topic of the darker side of advertising, but that is when a brand makes a promise that is going to fundamentally change you.
Powerful design can affect the way the way a culture is going to react towards movements that has nothing to do with selling anything other than representing ideas, so Black Lives Matter, the pink pussy hat, #MeToo, the logo that came out after the terrorism in France; all of these things are about communicating ideas and essentially they’re being used to connect us, like-minded people with like-minding ideas. The role of a designer is to accomplish a task that has been given. A very dangerous role in the human culture particularly is you are convincing the audience to do things that are harmful to them as an election campaign can be or selling soft drinks.
Advertising, graphic design, art, and branding are all essential to my everyday life. I interact with it all the time, so of course, I am very fascinated by the whole process of failing and experimenting. What works and understanding the basic principles of how humans naturally interact with illustrated depictions. Although design sounds like a world full of taking chances and working every bit off to solve problems. I think to understand the role of design and culture is that there has to be some responsibility, it is basically to do no harm.
