Death by Advertising

Édouard Manet, Portrait of Émile Zola, 1868, Musée d'Orsay

I was very surprised by Emile Zola’s short fictional story: Death by Advertising as it’s such a great discovery and written so long ago, yet still completely relevant. It’s about a young man who comes into an inheritance at an early age, due to his poor father who had worked himself into an early grave. It makes humorous and insightful references to the real ‘values’ of advertising. The story seeks to legitimize the fact that the newspaper adverts were his first visual introduction to reading material, whilst the advertising pages were of no use to his father; he found them alluring and insightful. From his first readings he learns to believe in the idealist lifestyle they inspire, the lifestyle his father only dreamt about. 

In The Age of Enlightenment advertising, a daring and new technological lifestyle seemed to hold the key to the pursuit of happiness. I admire that this guy is no quitter and sees his chosen path to the end, without remorse or loss of faith. Emile Zola even jests about his reading material being all ‘outstanding’ in claims when often it was not by far, hence explaining partly his reasons for not seeing reason in quitting. The thing that is most surprising and remarkable is that it was first written in 1866 (translated into English in 1884). 

Today’s books still have outstanding quotations on them, as do cinema trailers/posters, TV guides and electronics. We have billboard advertising, on the Underground animating LCD screens, and neon signs furnish our buildings; all such things in one way or another are promising happiness. Creating a viral marketing video is the latest craze in the advertising world. Also, Twitter introduced promoted tweets, but can’t keep up with advertiser demands.  

The great stand up comedian Bill Hicks, in the late 1970s and throughout the 80s warns us about advertising and marketers; playing on the fact that the audience thinks that what he’s saying is in some way a joke. “If you’re in advertising or marketing kill yourself *laughs*— silence.” He understood the bullshit and the damage that advertising is accountable for. Where Emile Zola’s character couldn't quit, Bill Hicks was standing up tackling the problem head on, making no joke about it, shaking things up! Bill was very much like this young man in the respect that he was no quitter. Bill Hicks using his comedic talent to enlighten us directly about things that matter, didn’t quit the fight. “In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ~ George Orwell

Visually from a design perspective, I’m interested in what advertising was like and could it be as effective as the story Death by Advertising suggests. Here are some examples from Victorian England, based on The Age of Enlightenment. These like the story helps illustrate the characters plight a little more emphatically. Typical newspaper classifieds at the time illustrated: just a shave, a blood purifier, a skin beautifier and stretched trousers to name, all appear to look good with nice drawings and typographical design. Emile Zola sees through the advertisements and writes this short story using humour, satire and irony to enlighten and entertain, just like Bill Hicks did much later. He proves in the most remarkable way that it’s impossible—to live by the weekly onslaught of dangerous goods and treatments, advertised and purchased. This could only be achieved with good characterisation and the means necessary and self-delusions of grandeur. We can all relate to this story in some way a hundred and forty years later!

Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) Vase of Roses, 1875

The Attack on the Mill and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) by Emile Zola

Print advertisements from the collections of Mr Roland Knaster and The British Museum, and printed in 1968 by William Clowes and Sons Ltd, London & Beccles.

Photography: Water Surface Patterns

It was a beautiful sunny weekend, so I headed over to the docks wanting to recapture the dock waters, cause last time I was there I hit upon the idea of taking pics of reflections that simulated sound waves. I wanted to expand on this theme using the surrounding reflected architecture to create these watery rhythms, of course, what I forgot was that last time I was there, the sun was out only it was windy too and later in the day. The reflections didn't look at all how I last observed them. Humoured by this realization, I was quite taken with the idea that I had no idea and thought that I would try capturing the dock waters in as many different ways as possible.

So why are the Ceilings Left Empty?

Parallel worlds are always fascinating because of their complexity and strange familiarity. Sometimes you get stuck in such places as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. And, at other times it offers you a choice you couldn’t possibly have made, like Doctor Who (David Tennant) creating a duplicate of himself. Ji Lee has created these installations titled Parallel Worlds, he explains:

People fill the floor of their homes with furniture and walls with paints and pictures. So why are the ceilings left empty? Decorating ceilings was a celebrated art form in the past centuries that somehow got lost through the reductionism of modernism. People don’t look at the ceiling anymore. It’s a dead space. So, I wanted to bring a small wink to this space. I also like the idea that somehow there's a parallel world which coexists with ours.

Ji Lee’s Parallel worlds are that of our own realized in contemporary miniaturization, only lacking is an epic adventure and I wonder if the title is a little too ambitious for this project. The focus here is much more to do with the humour and placement and semi-permanent nature of the miniature installation itself. The thing that makes them interesting is that they are very cleverly constructed, appealing and fun. There’s stuff lying on a rug, a chair pulled out invitingly and plants they need attending. Ji Lee asks “So why are our ceilings left empty?” He’s exactly right, maybe it’s time to reconsider this space in new and exciting ways.

Ji Lee – Parallel world. Please enjoy

Haruki Murakami: Behind the Book

These are three objects that kept Haruki Murakami company as he wrote the brilliant and bewitching Kafka on the Shore. Sinchosha Murakami’s Japanese publisher asked the author to take them behind the scenes of the book. He selected things from music to books to objects that helped maybe subliminally maybe not to inspire the story. Here, the objects that he chooses to sit on his desk as he wrote this piece, including his apple laptop. Whilst some of these have a personal significance to Haruki Murakami others he clearly enjoyed! I greatly appreciate him sharing these little gems.

Behind the books: Find out what Murakami eats, drinks and listens to while he writes.

Alice in Wonderland

This is Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) visualized through book jackets and notable illustrations. Based on the novels Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872). These are two of the most famous, most quoted books in the world. The beginnings of ‘Under Ground’ to ‘Wonderland’ originated as a gift to Alice Liddell. Following the advice of friends, Carroll developed the story into the much loved whimsical adventure that it is. In the Oxford edition in the back pages, you can see how the title comes about. I love how everything is thrown into confusion, nonsense and clever mayhem. “The most neglected and important fact about ‘Wonderland’ is that it is not a ‘land of wonders,’ but rather ‘a land where one wonders.”

I selected pieces that looked interesting in the way that the illustrations were far from being skin deep and superficial. In these illustrations I felt there was a slight edge to them of darkness combined with comedic satire; in the illustration by Camilla Rosa Garcia there's a delicate balance between the soft purples and greens with the black tipped inked lips and lashes. In comparison is the penguin classic, where a little girl stands in such a way when confronted by the queen with her playing card assembly. The queen’s head is seen rather enlarged compared to the rest of her, her crimson colouring strongly hinting at her foul tempered character. There is a black inked finer detailing and strangely mystifying less detailed darker background. Both covers satires the different characters very successfully — not an easy commission for an illustrator to venture, in a list of the most esteemed Tenniel, Rackham and Steadman.

Though considered primarily as a children's storybook… adult readers enjoy it too I think that the illustrations aesthetically re-imagined interpretations are always welcomed. There's openness to new commission’s keeping the book at the forefront of literature. The reader has transported back into childhood fantasy again. Seeking the essence to Carroll’s nonsensical world itself helps us in understanding our own world and the bits of it that just don’t make sense.

I have additionally included further links to the pieces, The British Library has an online page-by-page edition of the whole of Alice’s Adventures Underground, well worth checking.

illustration by Camilla Rosa Garcia

Alice in Wonderland illustrations - Ralph Steadman 1986 here

illustrations by Arthur Rackham - colour plate from 1907 link here

An edition first published an edition in 1865. The Dalziel brothers were commissioned to engrave the boxwood blocks on which Tenniel had made his drawings. John Tenniel illustrated both Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking glass. V&A collections

Lewis Carroll’s original handwritten story written for Alice Liddell 1864 titled Alice's Adventures Underground now found in the British Library.

Kulula Airline Rebranding

This morning on a brilliant design blog I saw this newly designed info-graphic created by Kulula’s in-house creative team. For South Africa's Kulula airline. The green plane shows 101 interesting facts about the plane you possibly didn’t know.

Apart from the colour, the thing that instinctively hit me—is that in my mind—is how quickly it turned something that was a quirky, fun idea into something somewhat ill-considered and very questionably appropriate! Fear of flying is a common psychological problem among travellers. The info-graphics with a font size so big that I can’t calculate (I’d be surprised if there’s enough space to cover anywhere near 101 facts, even on a 737 passenger jet) the whole thing is ridiculous.

The most obvious association with that number is George Orwell’s brilliantly nightmarish dystopian novel Nineteen Eight-Four, first published in 1949. In room 101 a prisoner is subjected to his or her worst fear or phobia, and that’s why it's so scary, it’s a different treatment depending upon the individuals’ inner fears. The idea of being locked up in the air in a craft titled ‘Flying 101’ does not inspire much confidence. Likely the designer got the idea from an infographic kind of thing, I don't feel that its appropriate on a commercial vehicle, in a pub quiz sure! Now more than ever all sorts of dangers are associated with flying, risks include environmental volcanic ash clouds and the unforgettable airline terrorist attacks. People have good reason to suffer a genuine phobia from flying, or am I being too paranoid? Is bad publicity good publicity? 

Kulula airlines obviously wanted something very daring, eye catching and playfully cool. Graphic design can deliver clever and witty solutions and a plane is an excellent vehicle for showcasing graphic arts. All these other prominent and competitive brands from cars to mobile phones compete using number associations such as the Peugeot 206, 406, 407, Levis® 501’s and 3™ Mobile. I wonder if this was a missed opportunity for Kulula Airlines?

On Wiki Surprisingly, I found other transport using 101 (number) as listed, though combined with a combination of letters before the number is not quite the same:

• Land Rover 101 Forward Control - vehicle produced for the British Army
• STS-101 Space Shuttle Atlantis mission launched May 19, 2000
• U.S Route 101 runs from California to Washington
• DBAG Class 101 is a class of German electric locomotives
• The R101, a British airship, which crashed in 1930
• 101 series, a Japanese commuter train type

In films interestingly the 101 number is used somewhat subliminally to evoke fear: The Terminator and in Terminator 2,  a T-800 Model 101. This makes perfect sense, as it plays on our imaginations in a thought provoking manner.