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Winsor & Newton Vintage Advertising Campaigns

Since 1832, in addition to keeping consumers informed about products, Winsor & Newton's advertising very much reflected the issues of the day. Prior to the arrival of the World Wide Web, print advertisements represented Winsor & Newton’s main opportunity to grab public interest and keep them informed of product innovations; Isabelle Gressel, artist and graduate of Chelsea College of Art & Design, takes a look at the evolution of Winsor & Newton advertising since the 19th century.
Winsor & Newton ads were not simply assertions of excellence; they would also entice the reader by creating informative, comical, futuristic and even psychedelic imagery. Despite great changes over the years in style and product, confidence in maintaining the highest level of quality and innovation has run through all Winsor & Newton campaigns.  In 1922, in the desire to illustrate excellence, an American advertisement stated “When colours can be made any better – we will make them”.

US Advert 1922

This confidence was maintained even in the face of bleak circumstances. During the Second World War, paint production was downsized due to the lack of materials and because skilled hands were needed on another front. Through their advertisements Winsor & Newton reassured consumers that they would continue to distribute their products as well as they could. Recognising the potential of art and creativity in maintaining morale, Winsor & Newton sent small paint packages to prisoners of war held in various camps across Europe.

Advert from WWII

Perhaps as an antidote to the austerity of the time, Winsor & Newton drew upon the use of cartoon imagery in their advertisements. Possibly due to their royal appointment, Winsor & Newton has had a tendency to be misspelt “Windsor & Newton”. In 1944, artists of the time were called upon to humorously rectify this common misconception.

 

Other versions of the No 'd' in Winsor campaigns  Advertisements in the form of cartoons continued to be popular in the 1940s and 50s in Great Britain. Winsor & Newton launched several explaining the most prized qualities in their paints: permanence and durability. This was epitomised by their ‘Selected List’, a range comprising only of permanent colours.  Despite the comical edge to these ads, an underlying need for longevity and posterity has always been present in art and painting. In the late 40s when these campaigns were launched, various contemporary works, on which poor quality paints had been used, were degrading fast and the need for the art world to recognise the importance of using reliable art products was seen as vital.

1940s 'Permanence' campaigns

Along with this cartoon series, British advertisements at this time were topical and often related to events in the art world, such as the auction sales of master paintings or small anecdotal histories of important historical painters.
In the United States, on the other hand, ads in the late 40s and 50s were based on the outdoor, leisure painter, focusing on travel, exploration and the global nature of Winsor & Newton products. They emphasised the international aspect of the paints, the world-wide search for pigments.

Advertising campaigns from the 1940s & 1950s

In the late 1960s, the advertisements on both sides of the Atlantic became more colourful and fanciful, illustrating the booming, changing world of the swinging sixties. Many began to refer to popular culture and would not have looked out of place as artwork on an album cover of the time.
Advert from 1960s

Continuing in the spirit of Winsor & Newton, the products too, continued to do wonderful things no one had previously thought possible: the launch of the Griffin range, a collection of alkyd oils paints in 1976 provided fast drying oil paint. Parallel to this, innovations in various mediums as well as Designers Gouache were being launched.
Following the global obsession with the space race, movies like the Star Wars trilogy reflected a growing technological curiosity. In 1980, this feeling was reflected with a futuristic space age advertisement, launched in the United States.
Advertisement 1980

In 1997 a breakthrough product, water-mixable oil colour, challenged all preconceived notions of traditional oil paints. The advertisements were now more focused on clearly explaining the specific paints and related mediums, giving as much technical information as possible to the reader.
Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour Advert 2007 
The launch of the World Wide Web changed advertising forever and Winsor & Newton rose to the opportunity by launching a website at the beginning of 2008 that contains more helpful information than any poster or single ad can achieve. Today, the Winsor & Newton printed information is complemented by the website which contains a range of resources including detailed product information, technical videos, articles and interviews with artists.
Artists' Acrylic Advertisement 2009 
The rich content available on the web has allowed Winsor & Newton to go back to basics in their advertisement imagery. Like the 1922 ad, with its bold statement of innovative excellence, today’s ads carry a similar message but refers artists to a website for further information that is, quite literally, at their fingertips.