Advertising, Guerrilla Advertising and Lowbrow Art

Lowbrow Art

What are the characteristics of Lowbrow?

• Lowbrow was born of underground or "street" culture.

• The single most common tactic that Lowbrow artists employ is to poke fun at convention. They know the "rules" of art, and consciously choose not to abide by them.

• Lowbrow art has a sense of humor. Sometimes the humor is gleeful, sometimes it's impish and sometimes it's born of sarcastic comment, but it is always present.

• 
  Lowbrow draws heavily on icons of popular culture, particularly those now commonly known as "Retro." Tail-end "Baby Boomers" will recognize them straight away, unless said Boomers were raised in an environment that disallowed outside influences.
  

• 
  Lowbrow, while it is defining itself, goes by a number of aliases: underground, visionary, Neo-Pop, anti-establishment and "Kustom" are but several examples. Additionally, John Seabrook has coined the phrase "Nobrow," and one has also seen the term "Newbrow."
  

• For the time being, most Lowbrow art isn't sanctioned by the critical/curatorial/gallery-going mainstream. The few exceptions to this seem to be happening primarily in the greater Los Angeles area, with a smattering of southern Florida exhibitions thrown in. Juxtapoz magazine is the best bet for becoming acquainted with Lowbrow artists.

• 
  Lowbrow currently suffers something of an identity crisis, due to having a wide variety of artists lumped into it. For example, the designer of a simple, kitschy decal may be accorded the same Lowbrow designation as the artist who composes a technically masterful Lowbrow painting or sci-fi sculpture. Hopefully, this will sort itself out in years to come. Meanwhile, you might want to begin collecting Lowbrow now, for the sakes of your grandchildren.
  

Advertising

KnowThis.com: Advertising
http://www.knowthis.com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/advertising.htm
Art of Persuasion
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA99/piazza/portfolio/adweb/

Guerrilla Advertising
What is it?
is an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing tactics are unexpected and unconventional; consumers are targeted in unexpected places, which can make the idea that's being marketed memorable, generate buzz, and even spread virally. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing. The term has since entered the popular vocabulary and marketing textbooks.

Guerrilla Marketing often seen as street art, pavement advertising, projection advertising, reverse graffitti http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/01/11/reverse-graffiti/
This is advertising that is often placed in context with its environment.

Examples:
Ad Goodness: Guerrilla Archive
http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/category/guerilla

Business Week: Advertising Goes Guerrilla
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/08/guerrilla_ads/source/1.htm

ALT TERRAIN
http://www.altterrain.com/Featured_Projects.htm
http://www.altterrain.com/Featured_Projects_Advertising_2.htm

Street Advertising Services
http://www.streetadvertisingservices.com/index.htm

Advertising is Good For You
by Paula Zargaj-Reynolds
http://pzrservices.typepad.com/advertisingisgoodforyou/guerrilla_marketing/

PhotoShop Tutorial: Street Art by Derek Lea
See more of Derek Lea's work here: http://www.dereklea.com/




Assignment #6: Lowbrow Art Guerrilla Ad Design

Create an advertisement design with a lowbrow art influence that can be marketed using guerrilla tactics. Guerrilla marketing uses creative, low-cost tactics to make a strong impression on the consumer. Explain what tactics you will use to showcase your work. Consider the context-- the environment in which you will place your advertisement it and the people you would like it to reach.
Your design for a product, company, or even a cause of your choice will be created in PhotoShop. Once you have created your design and decided how it will be showcased create an additional PhotoShop image of your design in its environment; for example, if it is a graffiti stencil meant to be spray painted on pavement, find or take a photograph of pavement and use layering and other PhotoShop tools and methods to superimpose the stencil onto the pavement. For this assignment you will need a few handmade textures as demonstrated in the studio and images you wish to use-- either personal photography or Internet images.

Goals:
• To work through the design processes of research, idea-development, visualization and execution through studio and computer practice
• To communicate an idea in a simple and effective manner
• To use the elements and principles of design to create an interesting design
• To incorporate text with symbolic imagery
• To understand guerrilla marketing tactics and figure out how to apply them using your design
• To use knowledge acquired in Photoshop for completing your design
• To use the Lowbrow art movement as an influence for your design
• To present well-crafted work in a clean and professional manner

Guidelines:
• Decide what it is you are trying to express about the product, company or cause
• Research and gather information and images that may help you
• Sketch your ideas in your notebook and prepare to present them to your peers
• Choose your strongest idea
• Polish and complete your advertisement design in Photoshop
• Create an additional PhotoShop Image using guerrilla marketing tactics to place your design in an effective environment that will allow you to reach the appropriate audience
• Print two copies of both your original design and the design in its intended environment in full color on letter size paper
One copy will be mounted in class for critique and the other will be placed in your portfolio
• Mount the two completed color pieces on black illustration board with 1 1/2" borders all around
• Place your name and the date at the top left corner and tape your description to the back of the mounted piece
•Save your work! A CD will be handed in at the end of the semester containing all of your coursework
• Post your projects to your blog
See the "Blog" topic on directions for posting
•Assignment must be completed for group critique by 3/19/09