Art Design General Theory

Author: Li Longsheng
Editor-in-Chief: Wang Jingkun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-02-01
Features:
Fragment: 4. Aesthetic Function
The aesthetic function of packaging intersects with its sales function but is not equivalent to it. The aesthetic function is primarily achieved through the shape of the packaging container, the patterns and colors of the packaging, and the uniqueness and novelty of the trademark, making consumers feel very pleasant during the use and consumption of the product. Currently, the packaging industry in China has fallen into a "misunderstanding," where excessive packaging,, is considered a waste and a display of superficiality, which does not align with China's national conditions. Good packaging, beautiful packaging, is not necessarily luxurious or grand; simplicity, elegance, and freshness are also beautiful. Successful packaging should consider the design object and purpose, striving to minimize packaging costs while ensuring the packaging matches the product. Factors such as the choice of materials, packaging forms, and colors require comprehensive consideration. Therefore, the design community has proposed the slogan "moderate packaging," which holds significant strategic importance for developing China. Given the current tight supply of energy, materials, and other resources in China, packaging design cannot ignore this reality.
(V) Advertising Design
In common terms, advertising means to spread the word widely. As Professor Fu Hanzhang of Jinan University states, "Advertising is a planned means of promoting goods or services through various media to stimulate explicit or latent consumer demand." It follows that advertising requires certain media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the internet, billboards, slides, POP displays, etc.), conveys specific information to consumers or target audiences, and ultimately influences behavior. Advertising has now become an interdisciplinary field, involving economics, journalism, marketing, communication studies, psychology, sociology, linguistics, aesthetics, painting, music, theater, photography, and more. It is both a science and an art. American advertiser E.S. Lewis proposed the AIDA principle for advertising—Attention (attracting attention), Interest (arousing interest), Desire (creating desire), and Action (prompting action). Advertising can serve society and benefit humanity, but it can also become cultural trash, causing negative social impacts. The latter includes deceptive, distorted advertisements, vulgar, lowbrow, and crude advertisements, as well as those that are offensive or undermine public morals, all of which are explicitly prohibited by China's "Advertising Law." Advertising should foster a positive social atmosphere and set a good image for society, thereby promoting the development of socialist material and spiritual civilization.
Advertising media are diverse, and understanding the characteristics of each is essential for implementing advertising planning and strategy. Advertising media refer to the channels and carriers that convey advertising information. Any material that acts as an intermediary between products, consumers, and other entities can be called an advertising medium. Common advertising media include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, the internet, billboards, neon signs, lightboxes, slides, animations, samples, calendars, and more. Among these, the most prominent are the "four major advertising media"—newspapers, magazines, radio, and television.
The advantages of newspaper advertising are numerous: newspapers have a wide reach and a broad readership, conveying information quickly and without time or space constraints. They can be long or short and are reusable. Advertising in newspapers is often combined with news, enhancing its credibility. Newspapers are easy to preserve and provide a record. The production cost of newspaper advertising is low. However, the effective duration of newspaper ads is short; due to their news-centric nature, they cannot occupy prominent positions on the page. Newspaper ads also have monotonous colors and lack the refined printing and aesthetics of magazines.
The advantages of magazine advertising include: magazines have a targeted readership, making their advertising highly selective and effective in reaching the target consumer group. They are not bound by reading time or space and often have longer reading periods than newspapers, resulting in better advertising effectiveness. Magazines are printed with high quality, allowing for excellent representation of advertising content. They also have a long shelf life, ensuring sustained advertising impact. However, magazine advertising has clear disadvantages: production costs are higher than those of newspapers, and its timeliness is inferior to newspapers, making it unsuitable for time-sensitive or seasonal advertisements in monthly or quarterly publications.
The advantages of radio advertising include: rapid information delivery without time or space constraints; a broader audience than magazines, as radio relies on auditory perception, making it less dependent on cultural literacy; low cost; flexibility in choosing the best time to air, creating a sense of immediacy; and ease of dissemination, as it can be carried anywhere. The disadvantages of radio advertising are also significant: it lacks the permanence of newspapers and magazines; it only conveys sound without visual elements, resulting in poor; and it is less likely to be actively sought out by target audiences.
The superiority of television advertising is strong: it combines sound and visuals, creating an immersive experience and significant advertising impact. Information is delivered quickly without time or space constraints. With modern people spending most of their leisure time watching television, TV ads have a wide reach and can capture a large number of target consumers. However, the cost of television advertising is exorbitant; it cannot convey detailed information about products or other advertising subjects like newspapers, as it operates on a second-by-second basis, only delivering simple and key messages. Like radio ads, its information is fleeting and not easily preserved.
Advertising design differs from general artistic creation. General art allows for full subjective expression and arbitrary personal expression, but advertising follows its own specific principles. First, it must begin with market research, analyzing products, consumers, and competitors to set advertising goals and strategies, establish positioning for advertising design, and lay the foundation for creativity and production. Advertising design is a collective effort, requiring collaboration among designers, market researchers, economists, psychologists, sociologists, aestheticians, advertising copywriters, and photographers to complete the entire process effectively.
Advertising design differs from artistic creation and must pay attention to the following issues:
1. Artistic creation also emphasizes "authenticity," but the "authenticity" of artistic creation is artistic truth. Advertising design must be truthful, meaning real-life truth. False, distorted, and deceptive advertisements contradict the principle of authenticity in advertising design and must be eradicated. Adherence to advertising regulations and the maintenance of advertising credibility are essential.
2. Advertising design prioritizes conveying information, aiming for effective communication, with the market as its foundation and consumers as its center.
3. Service to life. As a vital force in commercial culture, advertising should contribute to creating a healthy and beautiful life culture.
4. Advertising is both a science and an art. Beyond influencing people's clothing, food, shelter, transportation, and daily necessities, advertising also impacts language, mentality, psychology, and behavior. Therefore, advertising design should also fulfill aesthetic education functions, serving the development of spiritual civilization.
Closely related to advertising design is corporate image design, known as CI (Corporate Identity) design in Western countries. CI design began relatively late in China's design industry. Corporate image design is a systematic and integrated approach, consisting of three major components: corporate mission (MI), corporate behavior (BI), and visual identity design (VI). The corporate mission is the core of the corporate image, including business principles, corporate goals, slogans, and spirit. Corporate behavior is guided by the corporate mission and includes both internal and external actions. Visual identity design refers to the unified design of visual recognition.
Corporate image design is like a large tree: MI is the root, BI is the trunk, and VI is the crown. CI design is a systematic project. Regarding VI, it is divided into two parts: basic element design and applied design. Basic element design includes logos, standard fonts, standard colors, special fonts, and corporate slogans. Applied design involves applying these basic elements to various design fields, such as sales (store layouts, displays, packaging, shopping bags), office (stationery, envelopes, business cards, file folders), packaging (sales and transportation packaging), exhibitions (exhibition hall layouts), products (product logos, text, engravings, hang tags, certificates), buildings (buildings, storefronts), transportation (vehicles), and media (promotional materials).
The implementation of CI design in China requires a serious study of the characteristics of Chinese enterprises and a tailored approach that aligns with the country's realities. It should be carried out in a planned and step-by-step manner, avoiding a one-size-fits-all or hasty approach. In the current "CI fever," a calm reflection will help guide the introduction and implementation of CI in China.