THE ART OF PERSUASION

MARIE DORT

Advertising posters in the mid-nineteenth century were primarily used as broadsides, printed on one side, and were crudely made yet were intended to have an impact immediately. Posters were the only source for advertising before magazines started. On the negative side, most product advertisements had scantily-clad women illustrated to convince buyers. Photojournalism in the twentieth century, on the other hand, tended to use photography as a tool for social reform by documenting the lives of people in natural conditions. Advertisements in the mid-nineteenth century and photojournalism in the twentieth century both incorporated emotional elements into their designs in order to portray a persuasive message. Photojournalism used this technique to illustrate the unaltered truth and advertisements acted as announcements to the public to persuade them to act upon what they read. Also, both mediums endured a transition period with technological advances that made their processes more efficient; advertisements with type machines and photojournalism with the 35mm camera.

Typically, posters in the mid-nineteenth century typically announced the occasions within a community. Events, sales of property, lost children or the presence of criminals were some of the most common advertisements seen. Most of the time, these announcements were advertised for a short period and then were discarded. With the growth of the advertising industry, industrialization brought new technological advances that allowed for more creative freedom. Advertising became typographic communication because of the accessibility of abundant typeface styles. Printers could attain typefaces in different sizes, shapes and varieties of letterforms. Advertisements during this period had characteristics that hint little planning took place before the typesetter would print the poster. The typesetter probably noted the most important facts and used his ability to print those elements at a larger size. While the method of creating these posters was limited, they still were legible and could easily engage an audience in a concise manner.

Photojournalism, a term coined by University of Missouri School of Journalism dean, Frank Luther Mott, started as documentary photography in the early twentieth century. As the nation entered the Great Depression, photographs started to document the poverty, and photojournalism emerged as a profession. As the technology of printing photographs became less expensive, documentary photographs started to appear in mainstream magazines. Photographers started to be recognized by their work and became celebrities within the medium. Another characteristic of photojournalism was captions and body text accompanying photographs to create layouts. Printers could subliminally address the war issues and persuade their readers to support the war with adding text to neighbor their photographs. During this period, documentary photography was recognized as neutral record of observed reality (Drucker). Photography almost eliminated drawings in the journalism field completely because they considered the camera to capture a scene as un-biased as possible. During the World War II era, photojournalism revealed some of the most dramatic pictures of the war. Violence from the war was easily depicted in Life, one of the most influential photojournalism magazines.

Although these mediums come from different time periods, advertisements and photojournalism both employed persuasive techniques throughout their products. Typographic elements in advertising could convey the tone of an upcoming event without using illustrations. In the example of Circus Bill, the variety of typographic elements creates the illusion that the event would be varied, active and fun. This example of persuasion can be seen in many advertisements during this time. While typesetters had a plentiful amount of text to communicate, they still had opportunities to incorporate a tone within their design. In photojournalism, the Great Depression was fueling photographs to document poverty-stricken areas. In Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-Whites You Have Seen Their Faces, photographs were used throughout the book. Many of their images, however, had been staged, manipulated or strategically cropped. Doing this to photographs not only distorted the picture, but the information that accompanied it. Their purpose in doing this was to turn the United States attention away from feeling sorry for the poverty-stricken and towards seeing those photographed as a hardworking community trying to rise above their circumstance. This example is a positive aspect of what altering photojournalism could do. However, the negative aspect was photographs were often manipulated in a way that portrayed false information. This technique allowed photographers to document emotional messages without photographs that could not have been done with drawings. Having a photographic image made events, like the Great Depression, more realistic and impact the viewer more.

Besides the use of persuasive techniques within their design, advertisements and photojournalism both share technological advances in their field. Photojournalism previously relied on bulky equipment that required the subject being photographed to sit without moving. The equipment included tripods or lights that were too large to carry around at free will. The introduction of the Leica, the first 35 mm camera, in Germany in 1925, allowed photographers to shoot not only posed, but candid photographs. Photographs could now show how people lived organically without having to ask them to pose (Collins). This technological advance furthered the idea that photojournalism was the unaltered truth. In advertisements, typesetters experienced the transition from cutting punches themselves to having a machine that could punch cut. This not only expedited the printing process, but allowed typesetters to spend more of their time designing advertisements. Also, metal type started to transition to wood type, which significantly lightened the weight of presses. Since large type could be cut more efficiently, type started to take on a decorative feel and letters for public display were cut six to eight inches higher. Variety of typefaces now exploded and gave typesetters more creative freedom in their designs. Although, advertisements and photojournalism are two different artistic mediums, both use emotional persuasive techniques to reach their prospective audiences. These mediums both endured technological advances that altered their industry in positive and negative ways. These mediums, however, become more efficient and allowed for further expansion within each field.

SOURCES
Collins, Ross. "History of Photography and Photojournalism." North Dakota State University. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. Drucker, Johanna, and Emily McVarish. Graphic Design History: a Critical Guide. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. "Poster History." An Introduction to the History of Graphic Design. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.