In recent years, some educators have witnessed a decline in the attention span and work ethic of their students. Students have become passive participants in their education. What has caused this shift away from engagement? One thought is that the passivity is a symptom of the programming directed at youth. The multi-media barrage of fast-paced…

An examination of the laws governing commercial speech protection and alcoholic beverage advertisements, this document details the legal precedents for and implications of banning such advertising. An introduction looks at the current amount of alcohol consumed in the United States and the recent campaigns to have alcoholic beverage ads banned.…

Advertising educators have a responsibility to make students aware of the importance of the mature market (older people) and to teach them methods to reach this group. An assignment in a copywriting class asked students to write and design ads to promote blue jeans to adults over 50. The assignment accomplished three things: (1) helped students…

The results of the first systematic content analysis of free consumer curriculum materials indicate the extent to which such business sponsored materials are an advertising vehicle for their producers. The business sponsored materials in this sample of 116 items contain nearly twice as many advertising statements as the non-business materials.…

Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago has an interdisciplinary communications program involving seven subject areas: Graphic Design, Graphic Arts, Photography, Photocomposition, TV Radio/Film, Communications in Spanish, and Latin American Literature. The instructors in these classes form a team. This article is part of a theme issue on career…

Finds that the secondary-school textbook vision of society is homogenized and sanitized to reduce the risk of controversy. Reveals three domains of control that influence textbook visual content: industrial (how the image world of a textbook is created); commercial (marketing pressures); and social (interest groups that influence the visual…

Suggests using weekly news magazines to help students develop reading and writing skills. Discusses classroom activities used by the author, such as free reading time, asking questions, writing exercises, maintaining portfolios, analyzing advertisements, tests based on articles, letter writing, and voter registration due to increased interest in…

Suggests that text and information design are rooted in the visual aesthetics of modernism as articulated by the Bauhaus. Explores four key ideas affecting visual design: unity of text and form; emphasis on economy and simplicity; search for a universal, objective style; and faith in individual and collective intuition. (KEH)

Discusses ways a commercial art class at the middle school level helped students connect ideas and feelings and modes of expression within themselves, connect skills they were learning in school with what they perceived in life, and extend their ideas and expression to connect with the community. Notes how these connections motivate students to…

Novice designers produced a sequence of sketches while inventing a logo for a novel brand of soft drink. The sketches were scored for the presence of specific objects, their local features and global composition. Self-assessment scores for each sketch and art critics' scores for the end products were collected. It was investigated whether the…

Describes his experience in developing the comic strip "Luther" and argues that if the positive, black image is to continue to emerge and prosper, editors must be made to know that the comic strip readers dig what's happening. (Author/JM)

The primary purpose of this booklet is to offer suggestions which will help alleviate some of the burdens involved in producing a school's publications, so that journalistic endeavors will not be damaged by economic difficulties. The first section discusses newspaper advertising and examines such topics as selling advertisements, sales approaches,…

Intended as part of a continuing commercial art program, the basic course outlined provides the high school student with a core of skills and knowledge common to many of the commercial art jobs. The first part of the course is designed to acquaint the exploratory student with some of the procedures and skills required. Units 1 through 5 cover…

In a brief introduction, this guide identifies some of the career opportunities open to competent airbrush artists and indicates the most frequent users (technical illustrators, photo retouchers, commercial artists and designers) of the airbrush technique. The guide includes objectives for teaching airbrush, equipment and materials needed,…

This introductory, secondary level course in advertising design provides a vocational orientation to art education. The concern of the course is the eventual use of commercial art--to persuade consumers to buy goods and services. Objectives of the course include competencies in the technical aspects of commercial art and an awareness of consumer…