The Art and History of Advertising and Graphic Design

Advertising and design have been vital to consumer culture since the Industrial Revolution. And they have only gained power and market penetration since the digital era put the tools of opinion-making in our middle-class hands. How have print ads and graphics, pulled from high art and popular culture since the early 19th century, influenced our purchases, our votes, our self-images, and our concepts of our country and the world? How does advertising work? What is "good" graphic design? This chronologically organized course answers these questions by focusing on game-changing individuals--designers, artists, photographers, entrepreneurs--and successful campaigns and their under pinning principles from c.1800 to the present.