Chronologies 5: Advertising Lecture

Advertising has both negative and positive connotations. This lecture explored both of these angles.

Is Advertising prostitution?

- Advertising is often considered a tool used by capitalism to change established values within society

- It is considered influential in changing our perception of what we may need or want

- It can modify us over a long period of time

- It is often accused of exploring sexism; treating people as cultural stereotypes of their sex

Does sex sell?

- In some cases it can be used in a witty way, in which case it could be argued that it aids in selling

- However, it can be said that in cases it is unnecessary and vulgar, hindering the communication and seeming irrelevant to the product

- It is attention grabbing, but not always for the right reason. In most circumstances it can be suggested that sex only sells when the product is related to sex in some way.

What are the positives of Advertising?

- It drives global economies

- It encourages and drives creativity

- It is a very powerful form of art

- It shapes popular culture

- It is entertaining

- It can enlighten or inspire

- It reflects values, hopes or dreams

- It challenges you to do something

- It questions social norms and attitudes

- It raises social awareness

Chronologies 3: Illustration Lecture

Defining Illustration

'....a shining, a spiritual illumination, vivid representation, an enlightening, light up, illuminate, make clear, disclose, explain, adorn, shine light, act of making clear in the mind...'

- It was proposed that illustration is strategic image making, used within the context of visual communication to convey meaning or concept.

- The earliest systems of visual communication relied on pictures, as did the first forms of visual literacy. We are hardwired to intuitively respond to image.

17,300 year old horse. Lascaux cave painting.

- Good illustrators not only communicate through use of sign and symbol, but by the very aesthetic of their chosen media and its application. The example below appears more graphic but is still effective illustration.

Lance Wyman - US National Zoo Washington

- Illustration often communicates with a specific and unique tone of voice. It is the authenticity, craft, consistency and individuality of an illustrator's visual tone of voice that will inform their success.

Malika Favre for Vogue Japan

It's the combination of both an individual visual aesthetic and use of functional visual symbols that allows illustration to communicate an explicit message whilst conveying more subtle or abstract sensibilities.

Marc Aspinall - Monocle Magazine. Tensions in Australian parliament

Roles of an Illustrator

Animation Studio employs Illustrator to generate concepts/aesthetic for new short film

Art Director commissions Illustration for a newspaper article

Graphic Designer employs Illustrator to work on branding project

Museum Curator briefs Illustrator on mural for an exhibition

Photographer asks Illustrator to design props for set

Creative Agency buys artwork from Illustrator to use in new branding campaign

App Developer hires Illustrator to design characters

Flagship Retail Store employs Illustrator to collaborate on visual merchandising for shop window display

Interior Design Business commissions Illustrated textiles

- This suggests that Illustrators are subservient to others, and rely on getting hired. This is not the case. It is important to make things happen, collaborate and share your passion.

- At the moment, illustration has more contexts within which to exist and more ways to be seen than ever before.

- It has the potential to overlap with many other communities of creative practice, such as those listed above. Also including textiles, model making, costume, film, games design, architecture...

- There is a massive demand for visual content within contemporary media. 

- Really good illustration can communicate an idea or notion too specific, complex or sophisticated for any other medium.

Tomer Hanuka - Film poster for Hitchcock's Vertigo

What is good illustration?

Good illustration is more than illumination

- It can be more than vapid, superficial, trend driven and 'cool'. It can be more than twee, pretty embellishment.

- It can be functional. 

- It can have a message.

- It can have emotional impact.

- It serves many different purposes and can exist in many different contexts.

Quentin Blake - BFG

Ben Jones - A Clockwork Orange - Folio Society

Olivier Kugler - Domiz Syrian Refugee camp, Iraqi Kurdistan

Rob Hunter - Young Colossus - 2012

Chronologies 2: Print Lecture

Print vs Digital: Print is historical. It exists as something physical that has more meaning and is considered more truthful and reliable than something that exists online.

Documentation - Communication - Reproduction

> First prints created were cave paintings

> 200AD: Chinese woodcut prints. This method involves carving an image into a wooden panel, applying ink to the raised surfaces and printing onto cloth. Paper did not exists in China at this time and so cloth was used. Europe did not start printing until the 1400s.

Written word communicates more clearly than spoken word, which can get altered and distorted over time. This is very important when spreading the word of religion. Most early printed texts were based on religious beliefs and aimed to achieve mass communication.

> 1000AD (Asia) 1450 (Europe): Movable Type. Wooden movable type in Asia, Gutenberg print press in Europe. This began to permanently alter the structure of society. The spread of the written word saw a rise in literacy, understanding and knowledge. Historically, only upper class people could read and write; introducing more printed matter meant that lower classes began to become more literate.

This eventually lead to evolving different letterforms and considering type, glyphs etc. and altering the mood of the text or message.

Metal Type: More expensive, but a considerably faster method of creating text than carving individual wooden letterforms.

1700s Lithography: Based on the repulsion occurring between oil and water. It is a quick process where originally, an image was drawn with wax, and water based ink was applied to the plate and a print was made from this. Used for fly posting, mass communication and could be mass reproduced. 

Linotype: Invented in 1884 and revolutionised printing. This method immediately produced lines of type by machine. In the 1960s and 70s it was used to print newspapers, which were previously limited to 8 pages.

Etching/Drypoint: Another method of printing images that works on the same principle as woodblock printing. Commonly used for religious imagery.

1904/5: The rich, upper classes were considerably wealthy and at this time printing was about extravagant design and pattern work used as expensive decoration.

Propaganda/War posters: Mass communication of political messages. These posters were manipulating and influencing people. About impact, immediacy and message. They needed to communicate visually as there was still a large percentage of people who were illiterate. Print and propaganda go hand in hand.

1930s Modernism: Modernist design suited printmaking. It was more minimal and this reduction in colour was more suitable for printing techniques.

Screen Printing: Based on the use of a stencil. A very quick method, pushing ink through a screen. People did not need to be artistic or particularly skilled to create basic screen prints. 

Shepard Fairey: Contemporary American street artists who utilises screen printing to spread messages to a young audience. An example of appropriating specific methods of print to mass communicate, that resulted in a cultural phenomenon.