The 1950s donned a cloak of perkiness – smoking didn’t kill, Cuba was a vacation destination and women were pleased as punch to do housework in pearls and heels. The advertising of that decade, as seen on the popular TV drama “Mad Men,” featured splashes of color to convey satisfaction and wealth. But to paraphrase the old Camel cigarette ads, we’ve come a long way, baby. Today, tobacco products legally must carry warning labels, Americans must climb obstacles to travel to Cuba and women are as much of the workforce as men.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the advertising of the ’50s is not to be taken seriously. After all, that was the era when graphic design superstars Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Max Bill and Milton Glaser came into their own by starting agencies and unveiling iconic logos. Designers today can make note of the soft tones in people’s faces, the watercolor-like feel of the painting and even the use of sans serif fonts. When I look at advertisements of the ’50s, I get a sense that the people are happy whether they’ve bought a new television set or are simply going about a household chore. And that’s an attitude that designers today often still want to convey.
Sylvania TV ad from 1957. Note the sans serif fonts.
Nona Triennale ad from 1951.
One of illustrator David Klein’s advertisements during the 1950s for TWA.
Travel and tourism advertising art poster for Cuba in the 1950s.
Paul Rand’s redesign of the IBM logo in 1956 used a bold serif font.
This Australian travel poster from the ’50s continues the sans serif font trend of the decade.
Saul Bass’ poster for Hitchcock’s 1958 film “Vertigo” features a bold orange you don’t see much today in movie posters.
Chevrolet ads from 1957-58 show a carefree lifestyle.
An example of the popular Swiss style of the ’50s by Max Bill.
Join the discussion
Great collection, watching the patterns and progressions of the decades design as you get further in the post is really fascinating. Thanks for the post.
Great work! .. Amazing roundup..
“Cuba” art work is really great…
Great roundup Jennifer! Maybe show more than 9 examples in the next series. Looking forward to the 60′s collection.
This is great inspiration.. I might use some of these influences for my new guitar blog design (thedailyguitar.com), seen as guitar’s have been around for a long time..
Terriic post. Great design from some of the greatest designers. I love those travel posters! And just goes to show that good design is timeless.
I am diggin this post. Thanks for posting!
Wonderful designs from the 50′s. It’s nice to see the older styles and more prominent colors used back in the day compared to everything else now. Thanks for this collection.
Amazing round up!!
ipad bag
I think that as much as the looks of these advertisement differ from the way we see it nowadays, nothing much has changed as to the philosophy of advertisement behind these. They still want to portray a good time.
“You’ve come a long way, baby” was the slogan for Virginia Slims, not Camel. Carlin would joke “A cigarette for women? What, do they have little TITS on them?” (emphasis his)
Pretty interesting read! The 50s seem so mysterious. I think a lot of the design from the 50s has much more skill and integrity than modern day works though.
Awesome analogy of the past with the present. Love the Cuba poster.
13 Trackbacks