A selection of award-winning Print ads showcasing best illustration
The Gunn Report has released a compilation of 50 award-winning print campaigns from 21 different countries spanning 15 years that showcase the very best of illustration.
In the past, illustration was the norm. Advertising art in the 1880’s consisted mostly of engravings of products in black and white on wood. By 1900 advances in photo-engraving and printing made full-colour art feasible and advertising as an art form blossomed. Now 90% of ads use photography, therefore the use Illustration is already a way to be different or intrusive.
But, Illustration, when used appropriately, becomes more than just an executional option. It becomes intrinsic to the creative idea. It can make comical ideas even funnier. It can make scary messages even scarier. It can make fantasy more fantastic.
Legendary UK Art Director, Neil Dawson, who has penned a foreword for The Art of Illustration says, “This selection of work uses illustration not for its own sake but because it is exactly the right medium and style for the message and brand. These ideas simply wouldn’t work with photography.”
He added, “Particular favourites of mine are Guinness Extra Cold (they’re funny and actually feel cold); the graphic simplicity and power of Chrysler Jeep; and also the upside down posters for Merrydown – the same principle in each, but every single one so different from the last, and every one a work of art.”
Neil Dawson together with his long-time creative partner Clive Pickering have recently set up their own creative agency, Dawson Pickering. Prior to that, Neil founded BETC London where he was responsible for work such as Cockburn’s ‘Pronounce Responsibly’, Bacardi’s ‘Untameable’ and Cow & Gate’s ‘Feed Their Personalities’. As Global Creative Director at DDB on the Philips account, Neil won back to back Cannes Grand Prix for Carousel and Parallel Lines. On Volkswagen he (and Clive) created ‘Wedding’ for VW Surprisingly Ordinary Prices. This was the Gunn Report’s most awarded print ad in the world for over a decade.
The Gunn Report’s Art of Illustration show is now available to view exclusively on www.gunnreport.com