Ads like this were dreamed up by men who worked in offices on Madison Avenue in New York and on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. They wore grey flannel suits, thin ties, Stetson or Dobbs dress hats, white shirts. They smoked a lot, drank during lunch, and dreamed up ads like this.
The stripes are of high-contrast colors associated with warning signs and danger. Seems like a desperate, and probably successful bid for attention. The designer may have also been seeking to avoid having this card look like those from actual advertisers. This later consideration might explain the dog's breakfast of type faces. All in all, it is not a very distinguished representative of the graphic arts.
I will add that the striped bars may be to suggest construction barricades, and the black void that forms the background could represent that this is a blank (or vacant) site waiting for the arrival of your important commercial message.
There is very often a great deal of intention lurking behind seemingly arbitrary design choices.
Especially if you own a barber shop, I guess. How did they come up with these bizarre designs?
Ads like this were dreamed up by men who worked in offices on Madison Avenue in New York and on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. They wore grey flannel suits, thin ties, Stetson or Dobbs dress hats, white shirts. They smoked a lot, drank during lunch, and dreamed up ads like this.
ReplyDeleteThe stripes are of high-contrast colors associated with warning signs and danger. Seems like a desperate, and probably successful bid for attention. The designer may have also been seeking to avoid having this card look like those from actual advertisers. This later consideration might explain the dog's breakfast of type faces. All in all, it is not a very distinguished representative of the graphic arts.
ReplyDeleteI will add that the striped bars may be to suggest construction barricades, and the black void that forms the background could represent that this is a blank (or vacant) site waiting for the arrival of your important commercial message.
ReplyDeleteThere is very often a great deal of intention lurking behind seemingly arbitrary design choices.