Box imagery for Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard. Designed by graphic design duo Non-Format. (Source: adobe.com)
Box imagery for Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended. Designed by Alberto Seveso. (Source: adobe.com)
Adobe Systems, the leading computer software giant, recently launched its Creative Suite 6 campaign. For those of you unfamiliar, Adobe's products – such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver – are invaluable for art industry professionals working in digital media. The entire Adobe line includes powerful tools, not only in aesthetic merits, but pragmatic as well. The conceptual potential of these programs is immense.
Recently, I was flipping through a promotional pamphlet when my interest was piqued by the visual identity of Adobe's newest line, CS6. I was surprised! This is the first time I have noted a predominantly dark tone involved with Adobe.
The advertising imagery used for various suites in the family, from Design Standard to Photoshop Extended, exemplify futuristic, robotic, and even ominous elements. There are, of course, mildly brighter inclusions in the series, such as the art for Design & Web Premium. However,
viewing the entire line altogether allows you to better notice the similarities between the images: disconcerting, mechanized personalities. Simply by association, the spastic attacks of color dispersed over the image below begin to connote holographic cuts and scars.
Box imagery for Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium. Designed by collaborative duo MI-ZO. (Source: adobe.com)
Such dark imagery, although prevalent in the art world, seems to me an uncommon business decision. Adobe is an international superstar. I cannot recall even a few companies with such a wide demographic range that opt for ominous visual identities. What influenced Adobe?
Perhaps, this is a general artistic direction. A small example: some might make the case that shock art (à la Damien Hirst, Marco Evaristti) and the “strange, bizarre” aesthetic of darker fashion trends of the last fifty decades is influencing prominent contemporary pop musicians. But, for myself, the question does not end here. What is influencing professional organizations to promote this taste for the sinister? It is common knowledge that businesses rely on public needs and wants to craft their campaigns. Conventional ads (read: most) have positive personalities (even, on occasion, quirky, but not dark).
My opinion: public fears influence business decisions which, in turn, influence public taste. The declining economy contributes to sense of impending doom or failure. The murky waters of 2013 are expected to be even more difficult to wade through than the current economic downturn. Also, the alleged apocalypse of December 2012 predicted by the Mayan calender (even if many do not take it seriously) is discussed in the media. Regardless of this claim's validity, this fuels the public's fear of the unknown.
I believe that, although the general public may not be acutely aware of each changing tide, it still feels a foreboding pulse in its veins. These issues propagate subconscious desires for advertisements that reflect our inner sense of gloom.
After years of observing people's reactions to bizarre, inexplicable imagery, I have come to the conclusion that many feel a disturbing fascination. I have met those who loudly claim an aversion and equally many who pipe an obsession and keen understanding. My personal belief is that each human is both repulsed and drawn to the grotesque, but in varying measures. No one is untouched.
Maybe this is the sign of things to come: maybe “shadows” will seep into conventional advertising. Perhaps what one considers “edgy” now will, within the next ten to fifteen years, seem completely natural. That's how it's always been. Trends slowly seep into the amalgamation of cultural history. Or maybe not. Time always tells.
What are your thoughts?
Interesting... Fascinating Even...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that Adobe's recent aesthetic rebranding might be an effort to tap into a younger consumer base that would typically pirate their products. I'm drawn to this new style, and it feels very youthful and energetic.
ReplyDeleteThese advertisements are really interesting. They are definitely referencing a couple of different movements in art history... For instance, the Design Standard image of the girl is similar to the cubist portraits of Picasso and Braque during their analytic time period. For instance, Braque's The Portuguese (http://uploads0.wikipaintings.org/images/georges-braque/portuguese-1911.jpg) is a similarly abstracted figure, though the abstraction is more pronounced in his painting. I hesitate to say that it feels surreal. It feels too deliberately designed to really be a study of subconscious imagery.
ReplyDeleteThe Photoshop girl definitely references Surrealism, almost explicitly in its projection of the girls head (or her subconscious imagination) in front of her vision. Its as if she is acting out the Surrealist act of creation in the advertisement.
Interestingly, the Web Design Standard advertisement has more of a collage aesthetic. I can't recall any specific artists that it made me think of other than Robert Rauschenberg in its flat surface treatment of the collage elements. Keeping in mind that it is design and not art, I won't attempt to dive any further into that comparison (it is admittedly weak).
But going back to my original point in the earlier post, I really do think its a marketing ploy to capture a younger, art school audience. The diversity of styles they've applied throughout the entire suite feels like an attempt to invigorate all the disparate tastes young artists accumulate. The attitude of the figures in the ads also embodies that cliche'd art student attitude of stand offishness.
By being blatantly futuristic and youthful, the new look is as much of an attitude as a pragmatic decision. I am an artist... I use Adobe's products.