A small collection of (lesser known?) Indian print ads from the early ’90s to early 2000. I don’t have the credits for all the work. I have mentioned the names I am familiar with along with the images. Do let me know if I have gone wrong with the credits or if you have any additional information.
Some of the copy-based ads make me yearn for the good ol’ days of print ads. Gosh, I am old.
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India print ads – blast from the past http://www.lbhat.com/advertising/india-p… some work from @sansip too #creativeads
@bhatnaturally Goodness, that is a blast from the past, indeed.
You are not old. You’re just missing some good print work mate.
Have any of these ads been released in a nation-wide campaign? I am sure they must’ve been released for awards in some Adaman & Nicobar afternoon newspaper. But then why isn’t such (good) work released on say ToI, HT or any other national daily? The recent print campaign I can think of, that was released (a little prominently) was for ‘Bourbon’ and ‘Vodafone’.
Piyush Panday said at Goa fest that let those campaign win, that we all remember having seen, not the ones *exclusively* released for awards.
Sriram, these were clearly before you joined advertising. And no not all of them were rleased in obscure publications and meant only for awards. The camapign for Mauritius Tourism was one of the most visible, talked about, envied and effective campaigns in the early 90s.
Ah! true – I have been in this business for less than 12 months now! I see some brilliant work from India posted on AoTW and other sites, great stuff. But rarely do I see them published. They are those minimalistic copy, mostly visual – out of the box ideas with great art & illustration. Most of ’em have won prestigious awards n al. But again, rarely have I seem them published now-a-days. Is it coz clients think T.V. is a better medium than Print, or that cliché ‘my-T.G.-will-not-get-this-idea’.
Recently, Ogilvy India won awards for their work on ‘Sour Marbles’. I hadn’t seen the work first on any newspaper – but on afaqs!. I am sure there are lots of such work that win awards, and one’s ever seen them. May be the 90s were different.
It is great to read posts featured here. Today I am touching 70 and I remember memorable quarter or half page ads in newspapers. Those ads impressed me so much that I would look for the name of the ad agencies, some of which I remember such as Ulka, Trikaya Grey, OBM, Lintas, and Rediffusion. I remember graphic artists would draw, airbrush, and paste text to create a layout. I myself created a colour brochure using a black and white monitor, going purely by the CMYK percentages to visualise colour as it would look. Scanpoint was the first to start a computerised pre-press unit in Ahmedabad maybe in the late 90s or early 2000s (I do not recall when) and it was a revelation to visit their office and see the (then) huge 24 inch Sony CRT monitors. It was magic to input a file and get colour-separated positives.
Today, the magic seems to be missing in newspaper ads. It is not surprising. A look at the job portals shows how employers want a candidate who must be an all-in-one person, such as being a graphic “creative” designer with mastery of Illustrator and CorelDraw; a video expert and a photographer excelling in Photoshop and Premiere, and capable of coming up with “copy” for ads in less than half a day, along with the visuals. And all this for a pittance of Rs 15000 to Rs 25000 per month. No wonder today’s ads are so eminently forgettable. A salute to all those of the past who created such fantastic imagery and ads, such as the Amul series, the Maharaja series, and who can forget the Benson & Hedges ad showing a treasure chest in the form of the Benson & Hedges cigarette pack underwater with copy about going overboard for pure gold.
Thank you so much for your comment, Sir. Yes, you are spot on about the lost art of print craft which was such a joy to see back in the days.