Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design

photographs of (respectively) a tree, a bridge, an architectural column, and a
waterfall—the grid appears like a misplaced scrap of paper, something a
designer or printer neglected to remove from the layout before sending it
off to press.
But the copy on the print ads is not ambiguous. For example, the
one with the tree reads, in part: “From these branches grow many brands
each worth a billion dollars or more, like Marlboro, Nabisco, and Oscar
Mayer. Along with hundreds of other household names such as Altoids,
Parliament, Post, and Ritz.” The cageyness of the ad is the nonchalant
inclusion of cigarettes with lunchmeats and breath mints. Likewise, the
logo blends the products together in one chromatic blur under the
inscrutable name. The ads are not aimed at the general public, who
certainly know the difference between butts and bologna, but rather at
investors, who doubtless need to be encouraged to feel more comfortable
about supporting a company that in addition to processed food markets
hazardous and addictive products. During these times of raised health
awareness, it is easier to feel ethically sanguine about earning dividends
from something called Altria (which sounds curiously like “altruist”) than
something called Philip Morris. And that is the real inspiration behind the
name and logo change.