Illustrations in the Media

Recently in class, our groups have been translating marketing communication theories and ideas from words into illustrations. This in-class activity challenged all of us. It is much more difficult than one would think to translate certain ideas and concepts into illustrations. After presenting my own illustrations and seeing the illustrations that my classmates came up with, it made me think about how illustrations are used in advertisements. From my own recollection, I don't usually see many advertisements containing illustrations. However, sometimes illustrations are the best way to convey a certain message.

Here are some advertisements from all around the world that hit the mark and took some risks on using illustration in advertisements:

This advertisement was created for Huggies Diapers by the agency Ogilvy based out of Bejing, China. The point of this ad was to advertise diapers for toddlers rather than just babies. The illustration of the toddler is more effective than if it was a photograph of a 2 year old.

This next advertisement stuck out to me because it is so different than the typical emotional themes that are in messages about adopting a rescue dog. This advertisement was for BETA: Adopt a Dog. The message was that dogs won't give you as much stress as children do. I thought this was funny and very different.

In class, we have discussed scare tactics in the media and had discussions on if they work or not. This advertisement is using scare tactics by conveying the message that smoking kills. The text that reads smoking kills 14,000 people each day and the illustrations of the scared people being killed by the cigarette definitely is graphic and sends out a very bold message.

Source: http://www.bhatnaturally.com/advertising/25-print-ads-with-great-illustration-styles/