Images are everywhere.
Literally, they surround us.
From the Ralph Lauren logo on a friend’s shirt, to the front page of the
New York Times, to artwork hung on library walls, images are omnipresent in our
daily lives.
Sturken and Cartwright explain this overload of images in
their chapter entitled, “Images, Power, and Politics.” They assert, “Looking is a social
practice,” something all humans are trained intuitively to do, regardless of
how we feel about an image (9).
Yet images do have inherent value to us. The authors add, “The work of detecting social, cultural, and
historical meanings in images often happens without our being aware of the
process and is part of the pleasure of looking at images,” (34). We consume hundreds of images daily,
and we analyze them according to our opinions on what they represent. What
factors make a person like or dislike an image?
“Conventions are like road signs,” and a company logo is a
road sign pointing to their ideology (26). Lilly Pulitzer is one such company. Their story all began with a 21-year
old woman named Lilly Pulitzer who moved to Palm Beach and started her own
juice stand. Lilly created a dress
of her own to hide juice stands while working and people when wild over her
fun, colorful designs. An icon was
born!
Today, Lilly designers still aim to create the same kind of
artwork that maintains the Lilly image. The name it has made for itself is one of bright colors and
fun. People make associations to
the brand based on their personal taste.
Lilly Pulitzer is every hipster’s
nightmare and every preppy girl’s dream.
The brand caters to the audience that aligns with their ideology, and
supports the way of life they advocate.
What other images can you think
of portray a way of life for their intended audience?
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