TEACHING THE ARTIST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 807, 30 October 1929, Page 7

TEACHING THE ARTIST

TRIALS OF ADVERTISING SPECIALISTS HAMPERED BY CLIENTS I “Nine out ot every ten businessmen | who come to a commercial artist will ■ \ say, ‘Ot course, I can't draw,' and . then mess up a perfectly good blotting ] pad just to prove conclusively that j i the statement is true." | So said Mr. Arnold F. Goodwin, i ; during the course of a lecture at the | Auckland Advertising Club Conveu- | tion last evening, when outlining some j | of the difficulties encountered in his | profession. Mr. G. C. Codlin pre- ] sided. j Over-conservatism on the part of | j clients was a big trouble in Xew Zea- ! j land, said the speaker. A prospec- I tive client would approach an artist ! to plan out an advertisement, and i then put certain restrictions on him, put forth liis own ideas and thus ) handicap the artist. “Such a thing is bad both for the ! artist and the client,” said Mr. Goodwin. The artist becomes depressed, and his work is affected, and vital work requires a certain amount of ] enthusiasm. A man would accept the advice of his doctor, his accountant and, to a lesser degree, his architect; but he ! refused to consider that the cornmer- | cial artist was capable of doing the i job efficiently without interference. | , In common with all other depart--1 ments of the advertising profession, commercial art was designed primarI ily to sell goods and the method used by the artist in selling the product was of paramount importance. Good advertising was like good salesmanship—it required clear, convincing and simple statements. Simplicity was not necessarily banality, as it [ | was possible to be simple in 100 dif- ; j ferent ways. j “To say that boots are ail leather j : may be a convincing statement, but [ t the conviction carried is entirely a | matter of art.” said the speaker. “It |is the was- it is said that counts. Freshness is required but not neces-

sarily originality or novelty in the ■ sense of ‘stuut’ methods.” He stressed the difference between constructive design and illustration, pointing out that the former was little else than a photographic reproduction of the article to be sold, while the latter, which was little understood by the man in the street, required the special knowledge and treatment of the artist, free of hampering restrictions. It was essential that, as far as possible, the whole layout of an advertisement should be in tlie hands man to preserve uniformity. “New Zealand produces better "advertising in proportion to what it pays for it, than any other country in the world,” Mr; Goodwin declared, in referring to the high standard of the work in other countries and the immense salaries paid. He also appealed for a greater appreciation of j the part played by typography in the [ appearance of advertisements, j The commercial artist was responj sible for the advertisement being i I seen, and though it was difficult to j

t say if commercial art actually sold J goods, it was known that design or j pattern had an undoubted power of ! attraction. Pictorial designs originated from ! j Pure symbolism, such as were seen \ j in heraldic devices and old inn-signs I which had apparently no connection j with the article on sale. This period j was followed by the wave of ‘realism’ i the ‘Bubbles’ period and the ‘XX-'on't j Be Happy Till He Gets It’ type of ! illustration. Then there was rever- I sion to symbolism again, and the ! modern trend was toward a slight j distortion of form. “Everything is becoming more simple,” said Mr. Goodwin, who referred to furniture, dress and architecture, “and simplicity ol’ line is all the fashion now. The distortion of form so common in present-day advertising is for the sake of em- ! phasis, and savours of the caricature iin a sense, though it preserves a j simple dignity.” I Styles in art would continue chang- | ing as time went on and varying couj ditions were met. ; Mr. Goodwin concluded with an 1 appeal for the help and co-operation j of the businessman, and asked that I I consideration be given to the artist ] who had made a life study of his profession. The lecturer illustrated his talk by j a number of lantern slides, showing j examples of commercial art culled i from American and English periodicals. A fine display of coloured posters which were displayed on the walls of the room were viewed with keen interest by the audience, the speaker commenting on the various styles adopted.