Advertising Design History
Advertising design has evolved considerably since its humble beginnings in the newspapers of 17th century England. From hand-etched illustrations and lead type to computer-aided drawings and digital printing presses, advertising design has seen massive technological changes in its history.
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Significance
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Advertising design helps companies sell their product or service and create brand awareness. The early days of advertising saw a growing need for sales images, which birthed the need for graphic designers and illustrators. Psychology plays a major role in advertising design, with advertisers constantly studying the reasons behind buying habits and the designs that sell.
Facts
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The history of advertising design starts in Europe, where global commerce flourished in the 1600s. Newspaper advertisements enticed citizens to move abroad. As more settlers moved to America, they brought commerce with them. Starting in the 1700s, newspapers sprang up in the colonies to sell products and services to the newly transplanted residents.
Advertising design took off during the early 1800s with simple ads placed in newspapers. Advances in printing technology made it easier to print a large number of newspapers in a shorter amount of time. This, in turn, spurred advertisers to use newspapers as a preferred marketing method, superseding handbills and posters.
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Layout
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Early ad designers created their illustrations and layouts using lead images and movable type. Early newspapers used blocks of individual letters to create words, which were then placed in a tray to build the page. With the invention of the Linotype machine in 1884, whole lines of metal type could be fashioned in minutes.
Advances in photo techniques and the introduction of computers led to paste-up composition in the early 1970s. Ad text was typed into a computer, printed on a small desktop printer, and then pasted together with graphics from clip-art books to create the final ad layouts.
The computer completely changed the industry again in the late 1990s. Designers digitally completed their illustration and design composition. Many newspapers now use direct-to-plate technology, so ad layouts are only printed for proofing purposes, if at all.
Timeline
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1666--The London Gazette, the first English newspaper, is printed in Britain.
1729--Benjamin Franklin accepts advertisements for the Pennsylvania Gazette.
1841--Volney Palmer establishes America's first advertising agency in Philadelphia, Penn.
1861--Advertising agencies grow to support the burgeoning newspaper industry, with 20 agencies in New York City alone.
1884--The Linotype machine speeds the ad-setting process with its ability to produce large lines of type quickly.
1893--Printer's Ink magazine, which examines "the art of advertising," is first published.
1930--Advertising Age, a magazine about advertising techniques and news, is first published.
1930--Henry Luce launches Fortune magazine. Luce later founds the company that publishes Time, Life, Money and Sports Illustrated. This ushers in the age of magazines.
1942--The War Advertising Council is created to publicize the war. It later becomes the Advertising Council, which delivers public service announcements.
1953--The Advertising Research Foundation is created.
1960--Doyle Dane Bernbach develops the "creative team" technique of ad design, which uses a copywriter and art director.
1964--Magazines drop cigarette advertising when the U.S. Surgeon General warns of smoking's potential hazards.
1970--Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the most influential modern advertising agencies, is founded in London.
1971--The National Advertising Review Council is created as a self-governing body for the advertising industry.
1981--MTV is launched, ushering in the age of lifestyle marketing and a move towards television advertising.
1999--Graham Routhenwaite's ads for Levi's help illustration make comeback in advertising.
2008--Newspaper ad revenue declined nearly 17 percent, reaching levels not seen since the 1960s.
Future
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Print advertising design has been overshadowed by new media that includes sound and motion. Newspapers and magazines rely on advertising for revenue. This symbiotic relationship made the move to new media financially devastating to the print industry, and left many print designers out of work. The future of advertising design lies in its incorporation into new media.
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