I do not look down on advertising art. And notice I call it advertising art.
I was an Art Director for many years and I left the business because I was
burnt out. When I went back to grad school I was labeled a post-modernist because
I didn't, and still don't, see a lower stature of graphic design and
advertising art.
Advertising is part of the world and at its best it's beautifully
designed communication. At it's worst it's purely persuasive and poorly designed
junk, but quality and persuasiveness is also an issue in the fine arts as well.
The persuasive qualities are there for sure and I think it's important
for kids to know this and that's why i"m teaching it. I share tricks of the
trade so they will be decoders in a world awash with images of persuasion.
And I also tell them about my own experience of turning down a lucrative
position at Young and Rubicam because I would have been working on Parliament
cigarettes. I tell them you can do creative advertising and still live by your
own beliefs and convictions. I did. Yeah, I was selling, but I always tried
to relate to my target audience and never treated them like idiots.
Just my two cents
