ITAP2: Viva Creative Revolution

“The Creative Revolution (1954-64) was essentially the tussle between design and meaning; between form, beauty and concept;

between telling and receiving”. Challis,C. 2006

As can be imagined, design work before the creative revolution of 1954-64 was highly different, while work after remains similar in theory these 58odd years down the line. Design beforehand was somewhat shallow, predominantly based around the aesthetic value over form and function. In America this was common in the portrayal of the 'American dream/lifestyle'; glamourous and high quality. This though above most aesthetically based design almost patronised the potential audience as they knew the American dream/lifestyle was difficult to obtain and other shallow designs seemed to take the audience as being a little dumb.

Within the creative revolution though, there were two key figures; Che Helmut Krone and Bill Bernbach. These two people changed the landscape of graphic design in 3 main ways. First of all, they spoke to the audience to gain insight on what THEY wanted, rather than relying on assumptions that agencies of the time often made. This bought them valuable insight into the consumer culture, and first off showed them that within the automotive industry especially, they would prefer a smaller, cheaper more economical car than a large, frequently outdated, expensive one that the 'American dream' propaganda pushed. This was a difficult admittance for the consumers though, since to go against the American dream propaganda felt unpatriotic.

Next, they tackled the aesthetically shallow based design, and crucially inserted an 'idea' or 'concept' which developed a deeper layer to the design, conveyed a message and treated the audience as intelligent enough to see this idea hidden within; This was backed by their third revolutionary aspect.

In the 1950's agencies tended to follow a grid structure and formulaic pattern, thus designs tended to look the same. This was due to the fact there were no real 'art directors' or 'copywriters', rather they were all called commercial artists and rarely met up. Bill Bernbach and Helmut Krone changed this by designating roles and meeting up to discuss design concepts together. While their first works followed the similar layout structure (to almost mock), it was radically different in content; As can be seen when comparing the Pontiac advert beside, to the VW ones below. 

To stand out from these generic designs, they designed their adverts in full greyscale to contrast against the hugh colour usage in other work, stuck with the caption; only rather than giving a literal description of the image above, said something that linked in a more subtle, intelligent and memorable manner. They also began to experiment with the use of white space to create tension and balance within the design, while prior designers used all space ending with a clustered and busy piece. This reduction in design, combined with the message/concept that was inspired by the audience research created an award winning and top selling style that truly changed the landscape of design.

Helmut Krone’s breakthroughs in layout

• Ads with no headlines 

• Ads with no logos 

• Head lines as captions 

• No headline or copy

• No product

• A sea of white

• Headline font and style of image as brand identity

(Challis,C. 2006)

Bill Bernbach's breakthroughs

• Understanding the audience 

• Respecting the audience's intelligence 

• Using wit (perception and ability to connect ideas) in order to communicate product benefits

• Going far beyond the obvious 

• Keeping the communication simple 

• Ensuring image and words reflect each other but don't repeat

• Taking risks