Advertising Outdoors: Watch this Space!

Outdoor advertising is one of the oldest and purest forms of communication. From the earliest painted Roman walls to the latest video walls and laser projections in Times Square and Piccadilly Circus, commercial signs have been ubiquitous. This text charts this dynamic exterior medium, looking at the art and ingenuity of art directors and copywriters who devise the artwork and ideas and exploring how their creative input drives an industry that supplies large-scale frames: billboards; transit shelters; bus sides; train cards; 'phone boxes; taxis; airships; and many other locations. Offering the ultimate exposure, outdoor advertising is also seen as the toughest advertising medium. Wherever creators are designing for, they are working within the same limits and unlike newspaper and television advertising there are no accompanying props - the city becomes the context.