How much art is in advertising - and vice versa? and vice versa?
This question was recently posed to us by an industry medium and inspired us to take a closer look at this topic. That there is some connection is shown by the many examples alone of artists who have an advertising past. Andy Warhol was an industrial and advertising graphic artist, the caricaturist Gerhard Haderer vulgo HADES was a graphic artist and illustrator for advertising agencies, as was Paul Flora. And the cabaret artist Josef Hader was also initially an advertising copywriter. This list could certainly be continued - also internationally - for a long time.
Advertising related art styles
It was also Andy Warhol who created possibly one of the most famous "advertising subjects" on the art market: the Campbell soup can. His Pop Art style, as well as Polish poster art, Bauhaus style or Swiss graphics are totally reminiscent of advertising, but run under art history.
Nike, for example, has made use of the "clean cool look" of typo-emphasized Swiss graphics time and again. In Austria, it is the Darbo brand that cannot deny its love of art. Different, but also very artistic, is the staging of the JBL Noise Canceling Headphones by means of ingenious illustration. A good keyword! After all, the work of many (advertising) illustrators certainly approaches art. And there are always brands that seek collaboration with such artists. For example, Karan Singh has already illustrated for Apple.
Art influences in your own house?
Artistic influences can also be discovered at REICHLUNDPARTNER. Just recently, for example, we deliberately used the Bauhaus style for the trade fair presentation of the door manufacturer Jeld-Wen. Or for the promotion of the Upper Austrian Genuss & Kultur Festival in Vienna, which runs under the motto "Sommerfrische" (summer retreat), "Die neue Sachlichkeit" (The New Objectivity) from the 1920s was used - after all, summer retreats were very popular at that time. A bit longer ago, we did a campaign for the OÖNachrichten in cooperation with the Munich artist and illustrator Bernhard Prinz. And for a chemical company many years ago we used André Heller's "Gifted Bodies".
For the international appearance of Schiller Medizintechnik, a customer of the first hour, we borrowed from Andy Warhol - simply because this multiplication of layers symbolizes exactly what Schiller does: Namely, to make the different layers of the body visible with innovative technology. Quite new is the appearance of the Linz Brucknerhaus. For the logo, the two art forms of architecture and music were combined into a dynamic trademark, and the key visual is also a kind of abstract music sculpture. For Four Diamonds, we even went among the sculptors: The fish featured in the TV spot was built for real by metal artists - using the cans in which the fish is sold - and then animated based on that.
Hand in hand with artists and talents
Our biggest art project, however, was certainly the one we did in cooperation with the painter Klaus Bruno Schneider and the Diakoniewerk Gallneukirchen. Within the framework of this "Hand in Hand" action, countless grandiose works were created and sold for the good cause. Many of them we have purchased ourselves. They have been beautifying our offices ever since. Another artist with whom we have been working for years is the painter and action artist Johann Jascha. Among other things, the zodiac signs that adorn our birthday cards come from him. These are truly unique!
But there are also talents in the REICHLUNDPARTNER team itself. There are singers, musicians, object artists, painters.... We offer everyone the opportunity to exhibit their works in our agency. Not directly a collaborator, but a very close friend is Pierre Leduc. He was Worldwide Creative Director of DDB and for many years coach for the creative team of REICHLUNDPARTNER. Today, the multi-talented artist lives in New York and Montreal and dedicates his life to music and painting. We are happy to have some works from him in our offices as well.
The question remains: How much art must be in a creative?
A certain affinity for the visual arts broadens one's horizons immensely and gives one the opportunity to draw from the fullest - be it graphically or in terms of content. The same is true for music. After all, all of our ideas, no matter how innovative they may be, stem from an existing wealth of experience, which we develop further, combine in new ways, counteract or even take to absurd extremes. Nothing new without the old. After all, the art of advertising is to tell familiar stories in new and surprising ways. And not just since the word "storytelling" was invented for this purpose.