In the early days using illustration and cartoons were the only way of advertising anything. Cameras weren’t yet readily available to the public and publishers had no way of processing the images due to expensive equipment.Well we have come along way since those days and cameras are so abundant that everything is caught on tape at any second of the day and before you can blink it is uploaded to YouTube. The same thing happened in illustration, people started using more stock photography, and being able to draw became second to creating a mosaic of pictures that are blended with a computer program. So what happens, everyone becomes a graphic designer and the market gets watered down to nothing. If you pay attention to the trends you will note that everyone follows what others are doing and soon all the ads start to look the same. This is the cycle of life and there is not much we can do about it however one of the best ways to be noticed is to do what everyone else isn’t doing. Teenagers are great at this as they strive to be unique. So how do you do that while still getting out the message for your company?
My answer is to use cartoons and illustrations, make your style unique. Get away from using photographs for your advertising and go back to illustration. There are multiple reasons for doing this and every time I do illustration work for an advertisement I get great response on how different the ad looks to the rest of the magazine. Thats exactly what you want, right? There are a couple of reasons to go with illustration for advertising: You will create a look that is in total opposition to the look of other advertisements on the market, people will have to stop and read the ad instead of just skimming over it, and you can personalize it for your company so much better. You can make a caricature of yourself, have your dog in it, or the company mascot. You can run a theme of ads at different times of the year so people will look forward to receiving the next one. Remember the humorous advertisements are the ones the people remember no matter what the products are.
If you are not sure how to start then one of the best ways is to find a cartoonist or illustrator in your area and give them a call. You won’t be disappointed.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a cartoonist and illustrator from Canada. To contact Bruce and find out more information please visit his website at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com
