Publication: Reklam sektöründe ilüstrasyon ve fotoğraf kullanımının, tasarım çözümlemelerinde gerekliliği ve nedenleri
Abstract
Bir iletişim biçimi olarak reklam, mesajlarını aktarmada görsel iletişim öğeleri olan ilüstrasyon ve fotoğraftan yararlanır. Her gün sayısız mesaj bombardımanına maruz kalan hedef kitlenin kendi mesajını algılaması için bu zorunludur. Ancak reklam iletişiminde farklılaşmak için kullanılan yolların bilinçli ve doğru bir biçimde saptanması, mesajın doğru bir biçimde iletilebilmesi gerekir. Reklam iletişiminde mesaj aktarma aracı olarak kullanılan illüstrasyon ve fotoğraf, temelde aynı amaca hizmet eden görsel anlatım kanallarıdır. İllüstrasyon ile fotoğrafın icadından sonra, tarihi süreç içinde bu iki sanat dalı sürekli etkileşim içinde olmuşlardır. Bundan dolayı bu iki sanat dalını birbirinden ayırmak ve birinin diğerine etkisini anlatarak genellemeye gitmek doğru olmayacaktır. Bu nedenle her iki sanat dalını birlikte incelediğimiz kadar, gerektiğinde ayrı ayrı da incelememiz gerekmektedir. İllüstrasyon ile fotoğraf arasındaki ilişki, fotoğrafın henüz bulunmadığı Camera Obscura dönemine kadar uzanır. Çünkü ileride bulunacak olan fotoğraf, Camera Obscurayı temel araç olarak kullanacaktır. Fotoğraf tekniğindeki her gelişme görsel sanatlarla ilgili endişelerin dile gelmesine sebep olmuştur. Her yeni gelişmeden sonra, kimi sanat çevreleri, illüstrasyonun kameraya olan üstünlüğünü dile getirmiştir. Nitekim fotoğrafın icadı bazı illüstratörleri farklı yaklaşımlara ve anlayış değişikliklerine yöneltmiştir.. Fotoğrafın ilk çıkışından sonra dengeler yavaş yavaş oturmaya başlamış, illüstrasyon fotoğraf karşısındaki hak ettiği konumu tekrar kazanmaya başlamıştır. Günümüzde fotoğraf ve illüstrasyon birbirini tamamlayan unsurlar olarak görülmektedir. Fotoğraf ve illüstrasyonu ayrı ayrı uygulamak mümkün olmakla birlikte, birbirini tamamlayıcı şekilde kullanmak giderek daha çok tercih edilen bir yol olmaktadır. Fotoğraf gerçekçi çözümlemeler üretmesi ile muazzam bir kaynaktır. İllüstrasyon ise bir yorumdur, imajı daha mizahileştirmesi, sanatsallaştırması ile vazgeçilemeyecek bir uğraş alanıdır. Ayrıca illüstrasyon uygulamaları, sanatsal gerçekliklerinin yanında, bir fotoğrafa ek katkıda bulunmaları ile de değerlik kazanır. Örneğin bir fotoğraf üzerinde daha gerçekçi bir etki yakalayabilmek için birden fazla fotoğraf bir araya getirilmekte, fotoğraflara rötuşlar ve illüstratif müdahaleler yapılabilmektedir. Işığın değişen etkileri ve nesnelerin görünüşlerinin ışık ile sürekli değişikliğe uğradığı gerçeği fotoğraf sayesinde ortaya çıkmıştır. Işığın değişen etkileri, hava perspektifi ve ışığın rengi fotoğrafçıların görsel elemanıdır. İkisi de farklı disiplinler olarak değerlendirilse de, illüstrasyon da fotoğrafta görsel iletişimin doğru ve etkili bir biçimde gerçekleşmesi için çalışırlar. Sadece üretim şekillerinde bir takım farklar söz konusudur. Temelde aynı amaca hizmet ettiklerinden dolayı illüstrasyon ile fotoğraf arasındaki ilişki hep iç içe olmuştur. Birbirlerine rakip gibi görünseler de, birbirlerinden beslenmişlerdir. Teknolojik olanakların artışı ile de fotoğraf ve illüstrasyon birbirine daha fazla yakınlaşmıştır. Günümüzde çekilen hiç bir reklam fotoğrafı, bilgisayar üzerinde çeşitli işlemlerden geçmeden tasarıma dahil olmamaktadır. Kimi zaman tasarımcılar, hedef kitleyi yakalamada, amaçladıkları sonuca ulaşabilmek için, çekilen fotoğrafları işleyerek neredeyse illüstrasyon haline getirmektedirler. İllüstratörler de, istedikleri etkiyi verebilmek için fotoğraflardan büyük ölçüde yararlanmaya devam etmektedirler. Kısaca fotoğraf ve illüstrasyon, görsel iletişimin her alanında olduğu gibi reklam iletişiminin de vazgeçilmezleridirler. Reklam mesajını hedef kitleye en fark edilir, anlaşılır ve ikna edici bir biçimde iletebilmek için birbirlerinden bağımsız ya da birbirlerini tamamlayarak, ancak mutlaka birbirlerini etkileyerek kullanılmaya devam etmektedirler.
As a communication tool, advertising uses photography and illustration which are visual communication elements. These elements are essential for the target audience’s perception of the message given, for these people are exposed to countless messages everyday. However, it is also very important to determine the methods of differentiation in advertising communication in an academic, proper way in order to be able to communicate the message properly. Photography and illustration which are used as message delivering tools in advertising communications, are two art branches usually discussed apart from each other. After photography has invented, these two branches have always been in interaction. For this reason, it wouldn’t be right to seperate them and generalize the subject by explaining one’s effects on the other. Therefore as well as analyzing them together, we should be discussing photography and illustration one at a time when needed. The relation between illustration and photography goes back to the Camera Obscura period, when photography hasn’t been invented yet. Because photography, which was going to be invented soon, was going to use Camera Obscura as its main tool. Every progress in photographic technology has been a reason for new concerns to arise. After each progress, art community has implied on true superiority of illustration versus camera. Indeed, invention of photography has made illustrators’ job much more difficult. Infact some illustrators has switched sides and started practising photography. They were supressed under the severe domination of photography. After the primary period of the invention, slowly two sides have started to stabilize and illustration has started to regain the position it deserves towards photography. Today, photography and illustration are considered as supplemental elements. And, it is quite certain that it will remain this way. As it is possible to apply photography and illustration each independently, it’s obvious that it’s a wiser way to use them as supplementary elements. Thus photography being a magnificent source to create realistic images, illustration has the ability to add an artistic, humouristic flavour to a visual subject. Therefore it is an essential profession. Besides, as well as their artistic realization, illustration practices become worthy by adding extra values to a photograph. For instance, in order to maintain a more realistic color balance in a photograph, illustrations and retouches can be used. Photography has showed the illustrators, who reflect what they think instead of what they see, that the reality is different than what they think. The truth about light’s changing effects and continuous change in the perception of objects according to the light are exposed through photography. Light’s changing effects, perspective and the color of light are a photographer’s main visual elements. Photography doesn’t concentrate on details as illustration does. It just captures the moment. However illustration goes into the details, follows the details. As it goes more into depth with the details, it achieves more realistic images. So that, it can even overcome photography’s reality. The art of illustration focuses on an object’s details. It feels the urge to picture it to the slightest details. Though they are considered different disciplines, illustration aims the same objective with photography. They only differ in production. Because they share the same objective fundementally, the relation between illustration and photography has always been in unison. Altough they may seem as competitors, they have helped each other’s improvement. With increasing technologic possibilities, photography and illustration has got closer to each other than ever before. Today no advertising photography can become a design element, without being digitally reprocessed. Sometimes, to reach the target audience or to achieve the results they’ve been looking for, designers reprocess the photographs in such a way that, they turn them into almost illustrations. And illustrators keep on benefiting from photography, for their work to be more effective. In short, as in all areas of visual communication, photography and illustration are essential in advertising communications. They keep on being used to communicate the advertising message to the target audience in the most effective, easily comprehensive and convincing way possible; together, supplemental or seperately, but certainly influencing one and other.
As a communication tool, advertising uses photography and illustration which are visual communication elements. These elements are essential for the target audience’s perception of the message given, for these people are exposed to countless messages everyday. However, it is also very important to determine the methods of differentiation in advertising communication in an academic, proper way in order to be able to communicate the message properly. Photography and illustration which are used as message delivering tools in advertising communications, are two art branches usually discussed apart from each other. After photography has invented, these two branches have always been in interaction. For this reason, it wouldn’t be right to seperate them and generalize the subject by explaining one’s effects on the other. Therefore as well as analyzing them together, we should be discussing photography and illustration one at a time when needed. The relation between illustration and photography goes back to the Camera Obscura period, when photography hasn’t been invented yet. Because photography, which was going to be invented soon, was going to use Camera Obscura as its main tool. Every progress in photographic technology has been a reason for new concerns to arise. After each progress, art community has implied on true superiority of illustration versus camera. Indeed, invention of photography has made illustrators’ job much more difficult. Infact some illustrators has switched sides and started practising photography. They were supressed under the severe domination of photography. After the primary period of the invention, slowly two sides have started to stabilize and illustration has started to regain the position it deserves towards photography. Today, photography and illustration are considered as supplemental elements. And, it is quite certain that it will remain this way. As it is possible to apply photography and illustration each independently, it’s obvious that it’s a wiser way to use them as supplementary elements. Thus photography being a magnificent source to create realistic images, illustration has the ability to add an artistic, humouristic flavour to a visual subject. Therefore it is an essential profession. Besides, as well as their artistic realization, illustration practices become worthy by adding extra values to a photograph. For instance, in order to maintain a more realistic color balance in a photograph, illustrations and retouches can be used. Photography has showed the illustrators, who reflect what they think instead of what they see, that the reality is different than what they think. The truth about light’s changing effects and continuous change in the perception of objects according to the light are exposed through photography. Light’s changing effects, perspective and the color of light are a photographer’s main visual elements. Photography doesn’t concentrate on details as illustration does. It just captures the moment. However illustration goes into the details, follows the details. As it goes more into depth with the details, it achieves more realistic images. So that, it can even overcome photography’s reality. The art of illustration focuses on an object’s details. It feels the urge to picture it to the slightest details. Though they are considered different disciplines, illustration aims the same objective with photography. They only differ in production. Because they share the same objective fundementally, the relation between illustration and photography has always been in unison. Altough they may seem as competitors, they have helped each other’s improvement. With increasing technologic possibilities, photography and illustration has got closer to each other than ever before. Today no advertising photography can become a design element, without being digitally reprocessed. Sometimes, to reach the target audience or to achieve the results they’ve been looking for, designers reprocess the photographs in such a way that, they turn them into almost illustrations. And illustrators keep on benefiting from photography, for their work to be more effective. In short, as in all areas of visual communication, photography and illustration are essential in advertising communications. They keep on being used to communicate the advertising message to the target audience in the most effective, easily comprehensive and convincing way possible; together, supplemental or seperately, but certainly influencing one and other.