This book focuses on the history and development of outdoor advertising
since the beginning of the nineteenth century. The author examines the rise of
'commercial art', the development of advertising as a discipline and an
industry and the role it plays in modern life, also making direct reference to
examples of successful advertising campaigns. Specific chapters feature such
diverse subjects as: the 'rules' of the poster and the demands of outdoors; the
development of a brand identity; the relationship of text and image; the case
for wit and humour; and the future of the poster in multimedia campaigns. Far
from taking a conventional approach, Advertising Outdoors describes the
trajectory of the medium through its ambitions, its bullishness and its
constant reinvention.; The history of the poster and outdoor advertising in general - from early
ingenuous announcement to post-modern reflexive culture - is richly illustrated
with hundreds of images drawn from the author's personal wealth of knowledge.
Above all, Advertising Outdoors is an essay on the principles of communication
and regeneration that are demanded by the medium's unique place in our everyday
life. Adopting a thematic approach, the author covers ground from the classic
masters of poster design, such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Aubrey Beardsley, to
today's most inventive campaigns, such as those by Pirelli and Smirnoff.
Littered with short interviews and commentaries by a host of advertising's
elite, this book presents the phenomena of outdoors through the eyes of the
people that shape it, providing a fascinating account of their creative
processes.
