The Art of Advertising: Newtype USA :: Art

The Art of Advertising: Newtype USA "If advertising is not an official or state art, it is nonetheless clearly art" (Schudson). This wonderful quote clearly describes the type of advertising found in Newtype USA. The three most used techniques by advertisers in this magazine is the use of minimalist art, color, and beautiful scenery. All of these techniques appeal to an artist, and most people who watch anime tend to draw in their spare time. This makes sense considering all of the products they have in Newtype are all Japanese animation (anime). While looking through this magazine I found that every single advertisement was beautiful. Anybody that draws can appreciate the beauty of animation and in the end the quality of the graphics portrayed in the ad plays a big part in whether or not a person will purchase it. This being said, it makes it easy to understand why they use these techniques to advertise. The first major technique found in Newtype is minimalist art. This technique is usually used for anime that is done by an especially good company. The idea is that they don't need a fancy advertisement, because their characters are very well drawn. All they have to do is post a single image of one character from their anime on a solid back drop and plant their logo on it. When an anime fan sees a beautifully drawn character, the first thing they think is that it must be a great anime and they want to know what it’s all about. The fact that the company producing the anime obviously has immense talent in drawing a single image is a big selling point too. Next, the technique of using beautiful scenery in advertisements is probably the most used in Newtype. Leo Burnett described it best when he said, "I regard a great ad as the most beautiful thing in the world† (Art). Certain anime companies prefer beautifully detailed backgrounds to perfection in individual characters. In their advertisements the consumer will notice the background images of castles, flowers, skies, etc. Recently they have also been using a lot of computer graphics instead of basic animation to really enhance the background experience. This has the same effect to the customer that the minimalist art has in that they instantly appreciate what they are seeing. The consumer is impressed with the quality of scenery in the advertisements making them want to buy the product.