Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17685/Peristil.59.9
Sergije Glumac and the Visual Identity of the First Croatian Oil Factory in the 1930s
Lovorka Magaš Bilandžić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8654-0635
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Department of Art History
Abstract
On the basis of archival records, correspondence and preserved sketches, posters and other material, the paper analyses the broad and intense collaboration of graphic artist and graphic and stage designer Sergije Glumac with the First Croatian Oil Factory (est. 1916) owned by the prominent Jewish family Aleksander. During the 1930s, Glumac designed the Factory’s distinct visual identity and coordinated its entire advertising activities – from product placement by means of intense advertising to designing exhibition spaces and organizing displays at important commercial exhibitions (Zagreb Fair, Ljubljana Fair). The modernity and purity of visual expression, message structuring and construction of connotative meanings distinguished
his creations from the design which accompanied other oil products (e. g. Riviera, Meinl) advertised in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the interwar period. Glumac was familiar with international models
(Réne Clarke) and successfully reinterpreted the conventional motifs used in oil-related advertising (e. g. oil pouring). His designs varied from stylized sketches with elements of avant-garde tendencies and existing modern posters to conventional solutions focused on skilful, realistic drawing and accentuated colour. He applied different marketing techniques in the creation of a product’s image, emphasized oil quality, its health advantages and good value for money. Glumac’s graphic design and his coordination of an intense
several-month-long advertising campaign entitled “Cooking with oil” realized in 1934 in various forms (from conventional advertising to cinema ads and personalized approach) bear witness to the broad range of his activities and his significant contribution to Croatian food industry advertising during the interwar period.
Keywords
graphic design; advertising; Sergije Glumac; First Croatian Oil Factory; Zagreb Red Star Oil; the Aleksander family; food industry; interwar period
Hrčak ID:
178998
URI
Publication date:
1.3.2017.
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