"Pharma" Exhibition
Cooper Union (41 Cooper Square)
This event has ended.
Graphic design in the pharmaceutical industry from the 1940's to present day
The Herb Lubalin Study Center at The Cooper Union examines the influence and impact of graphic design on the pharmaceutical industry in PHARMA, a new exhibit featuring original and rarely seen works by luminaries including Andy Warhol, Lester Beall, Will Burtin and Herb Lubalin. PHARMA's exploration begins with the avant garde promotionals of the 1940's, when a market need emerged to promote "miracle" drugs, such as Penicillin, to the medical industry. In a compelling and thought provoking way, PHARMA presents the relationship graphic design has had with the pharmaceutical industry ranging from the federal government's increased regulations to new marketing tactics where the everyday consumer, not the doctor, is considered the target audience. While the exhibition provides examples of past and present, the public is encouraged to reflect and question how graphic design is used to market drugs and design has transformed these commodities into objects of desire.
In addition to graphics, the show will feature:
the evolution of pharmaceutical marketing from early patent medicine promotionals to present day direct-to-consumer ads;
examples of prescription drug packaging;
the establishment of the FDA and increased regulations on drug marketing;
the advent of agencies specializing in pharmaceutical marketing and the use of common advertising techniques such as jingles and slogans to market drugs; and
how the ubiquity of pharmaceutical marketing cultivates the creation of spoofs, serves as source material for artists, and created a new niche of products such as "cosmeceuticals."
[Image: Penicillin ad in Scope Magazine, designed by Lester Beall, 1949]
Media
Schedule
from November 01, 2011 to December 03, 2011