Interrupted Lecture, New Media & Visual Culture

Critical Positions on Advertising .. 'Richard Miles'

Karl Marx 1818-1883

• Writer- Influence in the Russian Revolution
• Focused on Capitalism
• Advertisement Journalists are strongly influenced by him

Times Square , New York

BOMBARDED WITH IMAGES/TEXT/LIGHTS- Advertisement

John Berger

Book - Ways of Seeing

SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS

• Simple/pure/black and white
• unisex
• sexual sophistication
• Trend in Culture/sex
• Encourages you to buy, FOOLED INTO BUYING
• False Needs!

Portfolio Task 1- Image Analysis exercise

WRITE A 500 WORD COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE TWO IMAGES BELOW. PUBLISH YOUR ANALYSIS TO YOUR CONTEXTUAL & THEORETICAL STUDIES BLOG (by w/c 15 NOV at the latest)

'The Uncle Sam Range' (1876) advertising image by Shumacher &Ettlinger, New york

Poster by Saville Lumley (1915)

Compare and contrast the two images in relation to the following-
a) The choice and organisation of font and style of illustration
b) The purpose and meaning of the image
c) The intended audience of the image
d) The social and historical context of the image, such as social values at the time

Although both of these posters are persuasive, the visual aspects and communication

purpose of them are very 

Different. Image 1, ‘Shumacher & Ettlinger’ is trying to promote 

the public to buy a range of ovens from

their ‘the uncle Sam’s range’, and image 2 

‘Great War’ is trying to encourage the public to 

help their country by signing up to the army to 

fight in the ‘world war 2’ both posters clearly 

have a strong contrast in what they are trying

to communicate to their chosen audience.

However the two images show an early graphic 

design style in advertising as both illustrated

images include typography. The American

style font used in image one is strong and

definitive, which contrasts to the choice of

font used in image two as it is more subtle and

reserved which in response to the subject

matter is quite diverse.

The Great War poster is communicating a

powerful and bold issue and if portrayed in 

the right ways could make a drastic change 

to peoples lives across the world.

Lumley has tried to persuade his audience using a touching and warm 

illustration and child’s quote which his audience could relate to.

 “Daddy what did YOU do in the Great War” a 

Clever and touching quote, perfect for influencing his targeted audience

,‘capable men’ as every father would love 

to respond to that same question with a satisfying answer

sometime in their life. 

One of the first things i noticed about the poster

was that the man in the illustration was looking

directly at me, this made the child’s quote much

more personal and directed AT the person 

looking at the poster instead of at the audience. 

This makes the poster much more effective 

as it puts you in the position of the man and

how he must feel depending on his response.

The word YOU is underlined and in 

the use of first person also directs it personally 

to the reader engaging them further more.

To the bottom of the poster, the mans son is 

playing with army figures, this also relates to the 

aspect of war and the effects and influences 

it has on people’s families and lives. 

In effect the image and type in the poster

generates an influence directed at its audience

for a need to be heroic and valiant, which 

contrasts the more insignificant less

important means to persuade in the second 

poster.

The first thing I recognize in the design of the 

poster is its burst of American colours and

patterns. White red a blue are apparent and 

the use of the American flag is used throughout 

the image. This relates back to the company

itself as ‘uncle Sams’ brand as a whole 

advertises like this even today, using 

American themes to celebrate the country.

In the image there is an interesting crowd 

around a table, the illustration of a man

with a world representing his head is writing a 

menu, the clever use of illustration encourages

the audience to study the image and try to

understand what is being told, which is not 

clear at a glance! 

The use of font is bold and in your face, the 

Western style font compliments the American 

theme once more.

Both posters show definite ways of communicating with a specific 

audience using influential aspects such as prompting an emotion or 

exaggerating a thought with the layout of image and text complimenting it.

Critical studies (Richard Miles)

notes from...

Revolutionary Design in Russia

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Lecture 1 (Richard Miles)

notes from...

Modernity and Modernism