The Art of Advertising: Graphics and Photography
With Pirelli We Learn to... COMMUNICATE
Ever since it was set up in the late nineteenth century, Pirelli has stood out for its ability to communicate and promote not only products but also values such as quality, elegance, experimentation and capacity for innovation. In both text and image, it has demonstrated the importance of advertising in creating a successful brand. The history of the company’s visual communication is one of a persistent evolution of strategies, techniques and media.
ACTIVITY OVERVIEW
The student will follow the intense and constant interaction between Pirelli and the artists who helped give the most iconic campaigns their unique and innovative styles. We analyse newspaper and magazine advertisements, sketches, drawings, posters and films to retrace the history of advertising: from the earliest forms of figurative communication, such as pictures of factories and illustrated catalogues, through to campaigns by leading artists. We are taken from the extraordinarily lively period of the economic boom to the advertisements of the 1970s and 1980s created by Centro, Pirelli’s in-house agency. And then, of course, there was the transition from analogue to digital technology, with the global campaigns of great visual impact of the 1990s featuring cinema and sports legends such as Sharon Stone, Carl Lewis, and Ronaldo, taking us through to the 2000s. The course will investigate the relationship between photography and advertising and the role played by photography as a medium for conveying the advertising message. Drawing inspiration from the historical materials preserved in the Pirelli Historical Archive, the students will try their hand at creating a new advertising campaign using photography.
OBJECTIVES
The aim is to have the students learn the essential elements of visual communication, the various steps involved in creating an advertising campaign and the development of techniques and forms of expression over time. During the workshop session, they will be able to develop their creativity and learn to communicate the results of their work in an effective and engaging manner.
The course will consist of three or four encounters and may be carried out entirely online or it may include a visit to the Pirelli Foundation, to be agreed upon subject to availability.
