Advertising Design Fundamentals

Let's start by defining just what we're getting into here. The word advertising comes from the Latin ad vertere, which means "turn the mind toward." A more modern definition would be "impersonal communications through various media by businesses hoping to persuade a targeted audience." Advertising communications come in many guisesmagazine ads, posters, billboardsbut all have the ultimate goal of motivating an audience to purchase something.

Figure 8.2. A little humor goes a long way in making an ad memorable. The skinny gingerbread man in this Oregon Chai ad conveys the flavor of the product and its sugar-free nature, along with a few laughs.

Figure 8.3. This striking ad for the Museum of Latin American Art conveys the experience of seeing an amazing piece of artwork in person.

When did advertising begin? No one knows exactly, but as long as civilization and commerce have existed, it has been around. It has simply become more sophisticated as human societies and methods of communication have advanced. One of the earliest pieces of advertising known to historians is a Babylonian clay tablet circa 3000 B.C. containing inscriptions for an ointment dealer, a scribe, and a shoemaker.

Ancient Greece had its town criers, who called out to passersby about the goods coming into port on arriving ships. The Romans had ads tooevidence of them was found in the ruins of Pompeii.

Symbolic Origins

In our modern world we take literacy for granted, but in earlier times, signs and ads consisted mainly of symbolssome of which are still used to this day. A good example of a pre-modern symbol is the traditional red and white barber pole. In the Middle Ages, hair was not the only thing that barbers cut. They also performed surgery, tooth extractions, and bloodletting (Ouch!).

Every barber provided a staff for the patient to grasp (so that the veins on the arm would stand out sharply), a basin to hold leeches and catch blood, and a supply of linen bandages. After the bloodletting was completed, the bandages were hung on the staff and placed outside as advertisement. Twirled by the wind, the bandages formed a red and white spiral pattern, which was later adopted in the painted pole you see everywhere.

Figure 8.4. Early advertising, for a haircut and so much more.

Makes you think twice about getting a haircut, doesn't it? Let's explore a brief history of advertising to establish a foundation for working in the field.