My family and I dropped into Snoopers Paradise in Brighton this weekend. If you haven’t been I thoroughly recommend it as it’s packed full of antiques and collectables as well as great photo gallery upstairs.

I picked up a copy of a souvenir edition of Woman’s Own from 1981 which celebrated the marriage of Charles and Diana and I found it quite interesting looking at the adverts from that period. I don’t make a habit of buying these sorts of magazines (honest) but I decided to get hold of a recent copy of Women’s Own and compare the two.

Adverts from 1981 copy of Woman’s Own

It’s likely that these adverts were designed and the typeset by hand as it wasn’t until 1984 that the Graphic Designers started using Apple Mac computers. A common theme in these adverts is the headline being very strong. More time was spent on the copy and set-up of these adverts so they had to be good. The tobacco advertising is quite heavy too.

I’m using Woman’s Own magazine as an example in both cases and this is by no means a scientific dissection but simply my thoughts on the differences between advertising to this demographic in the last 30 years.

Adverts from 2010 copy of Woman’s Own

One of the biggest differences between the adverts of 30 years ago and now is the quality (and possibly re-touching) of photographs. The Loreal advert shows a very detailed close up of shiny hair which is the main part of the ad.

Personally I feel the typography and copy of now is much weaker than it was 30 years ago. In nearly all cases the designer relies on strong photography and Photoshop skills to grab attention rather than a good headline and copy.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts so please comment below.

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4 Responses to “Magazine adverts from 1981 compared to 2010”

1. 185+ Breathtaking Collection of Fresh Articles for Web Designers and Developers | tripwire magazine says:

   July 20, 2010 at 7:22 pm

   [...] Magazine adverts from 1981 compared to 2010 [...]
2. Rachel says:

   July 21, 2010 at 8:51 am

   Seems that the adverts are less lifestyle focused and more product focused than they used to be.
3. admin says:

   July 21, 2010 at 10:31 pm

   Good point Rachel. Are our lives so different now that, that approach is too general?
4. sam rossiter says:

   October 31, 2010 at 12:17 pm

   i prefer the old adverts, the old adverts i think were designed to “speak” to the advertiser and try to find a common ground with them the new ones are just about flash photography and nothing else