Lably
Skip to content

Commercial art

Art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising

  • 2 min read
  • 4 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Commerce, Advertising and Climate change

People can obtain training, certifications, and degrees that incorporate commercial arts in many exercises, activities, and programs.

History

Commercial art emerged during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. Rapid technological improvements brought about a boom in mass production, and design for the purpose of advertising and selling this mass amount of product became a thriving industry. Designers created with the intention of capturing consumers' attention, and achieved this through large letters and a variety in fonts all printed in highly contrasting colors.

As technologies continued to advance, chromolithography became a useful tool for designers creating commercial art. Advertisements transformed from text-only designs to highly detailed, colorful illustrations. These illustrative advertisements were popular among travelling circuses, carnivals, and theatrical shows. The addition of color also revolutionized branding and labels and attention-grabbing packaging became a large sector of commercial art.

Sign in to keep reading

3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Visual artists