Commercial art includes many types of art used for business purposes as well as illustration. It is often called advertising art, because much commercial art is used in the selling of products and services. Commercial art is different from fine art, such as painting and sculpture, because it must be reproduced by printing, by photographing, or by other methods.
Commercial artists work for advertising agencies, department stores, manufacturers, typographers, publishers, TV stations, web developers, and many other types of businesses. They create art for such things as advertisements, books, computer programs, logos, magazines, packages, and trademarks. The artwork in World Book is produced by commercial artists.
Commercial art studios range greatly in size. Many commercial artists work independently and are paid by assignment. They are called free-lance artists.
Commercial art is a relatively new profession. Few people were employed in the field before 1900, and educational training for a professional career in commercial art was not available until about 1930. Early commercial artists were self-taught or had some training in fine art. These artists worked on design, drawing, lettering, and all steps in preparing a piece of artwork for reproduction.Today there are many commercial art schools that offer four-year training programs, and many colleges and universities offer degrees in commercial art.
Since the mid-1900’s, the field has expanded and developed greatly. Today, many commercial artists specialize in such specific parts of commercial art as design, web content, calligraphy, illustration, photography, and photo retouching. Specialists within these areas include fashion illustrators, product illustrators, book illustrators, technical illustrators, cartoonists, computer graphic artists, film animators, and photographers.
Some commercial artists become art directors. Art directors plan and direct the work of other artists. They work for such businesses as advertising agencies, design studios, graphics studios, web developers, and television stations. Most commercial artists specialize in one such field.
