Monday, April 11, 2011
Persuasion
Design posters and other forms of advertisement are meant to express a certain view that the particular artist or company has on certain issues. Cigarette Advertisements are the most popular examples of the previous statement because the ads are trying to convince and deceive mainstream society to think that their product is appropriate and “made” for them. In order to effectively persuade the viewers to believe that a specific design depicts an actual word or phase, the artist or designer must create and arrange the objects on a grid in such a way that will allow the viewer’s mind to imagine the word or phrase being visualized in the art piece. In most cigarette ads, the designer incorporates images of “happy people” or “attractive people” as a method of persuasion. Other designs can be triggered by pivotal moments and events in history. The “Atomic Bombs”, “Mushroom Clouds”, “Black Power” and “White Power” designs that were created in the 1960’s are examples that interested me in terms of social context designs. Each of the artist/designers posters were very “eye-catching” and “controversial” just like the events in history that they attempted to express, such as the Cold War and the Black and White Power movements. In my opinion, it is the designers’ job to visually create ways to convince the viewers to agree and comply with the particular view point that they are attempting to “sell”.
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I have always had an interest in World War II posters and their powers of persuasion. Persuading the American public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes.
ReplyDeleteMonica, I completely agree with you. The primary role of creative advertisers is to identify the target audience and then adjust the design(s) accordingly.
ReplyDeleteAs designers, we are always faced with the conundrum of how much of our values and aesthetic tastes we are willing to sacrafice to meet clientele needs. It is up to the individual to decide where to set boundries, as well as what he or she wants to support artistically.
Jumping off of what James said, I'm not sure where the line gets drawn when it comes to personal values in designs and with clients. Can a diehard liberal design a poster for a conservative group with as much vigor as he could for, say, a very liberal one? At the end of the day, does designing for money, as a career, possess moral challenges not faced by other careers?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you in that all designers need to be able to create visual pieces that get people to support or be interested in certain products or ideas. Even if that designer isn’t interested in advertising specifically and the direct use of ‘selling’ products, they are still selling themselves and the clients they make posters, etc for. You are selling your client to the public so that people will be interested in what you and them have to say. However, there is always that fine line that designers walk when deciding if it is right to try and market certain products, especially if you don’t believe in their ideas.
ReplyDeletethese pictures are really eye catching, and very provoking!
ReplyDeleteMMMmmm, Mid-century commercial art. My favorite.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what James said about our own tastes, the best we can hope to do is translate somebody's awful aesthetics into its best possible rendition. It's an exercise in salvation.
ReplyDeleteI as a smoker I can say that most people will smoke only one or two brands of cigarettes...They were relevant back then but for something that's pretty addictive on their own. There isn't much need for advertising for the regular smoker in my opinion. I don't even pay attention to the ads anymore.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I think cigarette ads are continually marketed towards younger and younger audiences, because as Julie said, the regular smokers are already hooked.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this post made me really want netflix to hurry up so my next disc of Mad Men comes......I also am glad that you brought it up!
ReplyDeleteAdvertising is my favorite use of design, and I think the most interesting thing about it is the companies who are already fully established and how they must constantly strive to find new and exciting ways to engage customers.
I really like that middle one. It's a very striking, somber ad that really strikes at the emotions.
ReplyDeleteI love the use of photography and type in these pieces, makes for an interesting way of figuring out what catches people's eyes when trying to persuade them to buy something.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that even today when people understand the purpose of propaganda and the "persuasive" elements of design, we can still be successful at persuading even the most aware people. That is a sign of good design.
ReplyDeleteThese advertisements are very bold, although many ads are very compelling currently I feel that these are really strong compared to what we see currently
ReplyDeletethis is kind of where i started with my idea for my project. persuasion ads can be very successful, and it's kind of scary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you guys are saying. The ads are generally aimed at the younger crowds or even to tourists. In some countries they have different cigarette brands and as a result could be at a loss as to what to used in a new place. The ads are still effectively bringing in new clients.
ReplyDeleteI immediately noticed the type in the first ad- I feel like today it is used with more irreverence than at this time. Not to say that there is not great use of it today, but at least in advertising I feel Helvetica still stands supreme.
ReplyDeleteIf I did't know any better about smoking the ad would have convinced me to start or at least consider it.
ReplyDeleteI think the concept of “happy” or “attractive” is used throughout advertising!
ReplyDelete