With the exception of poster art, French graphic design has enjoyed little recognition on the international stage – until now. This book tells a very remarkable story about the development of design in the France, and it does so with typical French flair. French graphic design has thrived on a multitude of external influences from places as far afield as Russia, Switzerland, Poland, Germany and Hungary. The designers here are legendary artists, actually some of the world’s most revered: French artists and artists who made Paris their home – Man Ray, Brassai, Cassandre, Leger, Duchamp, Mallarme to name just a few.

Graphic design in France documents the emergence of graphic design as a culture in France and illustrates how it has come to the fore in recent years with a great burst of vitality in poster art, typography, editorial design, magazine design, information graphics, multimedia and television. This book places the tradition of French graphic design amidst the greater aesthetic languages of fine art, iconography, urban architecture, sculpture, communication art, fashion, literature, and much more.

source: amazon.com

Propaganda is very similar to marketing/advertising in many ways, especially in the way that messages are selectively formulated to emotionally engage the viewer. Many advertising and marketing companies apply these same principles to their work. It’s not a matter of deceiving customers or providing false and/or misleading facts but more an issue of building marketing campaigns within frames which appeal to the audience’s interests.

In 1939, the New York-based Institute for Propaganda Analysis published an article on the seven common propaganda devices with the aim of encouraging critical, rational thinking among interested parties. Let’s take a look at the list of seven propaganda techniques along with some examples on how they work.

1. Name-calling: This involves the use of words to connect a person or idea to a negative concept. The aim is to make a person reject something without examining the evidence because of the negative associations attached to it. (terrorist, fag, etc.)

2. Glittering Generalities: The opposite of name-calling, this involves the use of highly valued concepts and beliefs which attract general approval and acclaim. These are vague, emotionally attractive words like ‘freedom‘, ‘honor‘ and ‘love‘.

3. Transfer: This is a technique used to carry over the authority and approval of something you respect and revere to something the propagandist would have you accept. One does this by projecting the qualities of an entity, person or symbol to another through visual or mental association.

4. Testimonial: The aim of testimonial is to leverage the experience, authority and respect of a person and use it to endorse a product or cause. Testimonials appeal to emotions instead of logic because they generally provide weak justifications for the product or a cause of action.

5. Plain Folks: A technique whereby the propagandist positions him or herself as an average person just like the target audience, thereby demonstrating the ability to empathize and understand the concerns/feelings of the masses.

6. Card Stacking: A way of manipulating audience perceptions by emphasizing one side of an argument which reinforces your position, while repressing/minimizing dissenting opinions. An example of this articles/media events which compare and contrast the best possible scenarios with the worse examples.

7. Bandwagon: The basic premise for the bandwagon technique is to suggest that ’since everyone is doing it, you should too’. It’s aim to persuade people to follow a general trend by reinforcing the human need to participate on the winning side. One can suggest to an audience that he or she will lose out by not moving with the rest of the crowd, thus preying on their insecurities and fears.

sources: doshdosh.com