Saturday, May 7, 2011

The Core Beliefs of an Ad Agency


We believe that art is the secret weapon of great business. It is what makes the deaf suddenly hear, what make the blind see. Notice, however that we are interested in making art that serves capitalism. We like keeping score. We like to win. We like the clarity of it. In the end, art combined with business is bigger art. Business combined with art is bigger business.

This was some copy I found on Goodby Silverstein & Partners' Website (not a very usability friendly website, I might add).

I like what they're saying here but I'm not so sure about the equation, "art + business = bigger art." Perhaps if the meaning of "bigger" is defined as "more accessible," I can see how business advertising can achieve this. I would assume that more of the world's population has seen the corporate artwork of Coca Cola and Disney than of Da Vinci's "Last Supper." However, if bigger is supposed to mean better, or more inspiring, well, then they are way off base.

The last sentence just makes me happy. I went into advertising because I love art and design, but I still wanted to make a decent living (not that one can't make a great living working purely as an artist, but I believe it's much more difficult to do so). Can you imagine a world in which business lacked art? It would be like living in a Communist community where all the architecture is stale and synonymous. Thank goodness for capitalism and that it rewards the artistic.

What did you think about the quote, "art combined with business is bigger art"?

1 comment:

  1. I have lived in a formerly communist community where the architecture is bland and boring, that is a good way to compare a business world without design or flair. That really is what catches our attention.

    ReplyDelete