Posted by Olivia dela Rosa on October 10, 2014
If you're part of the generation that didn't need Google to do their homework, congratulations for braving an Internet-less world, which meant you just didn't really have a choice back then.
It's kind of amazing to think that Facebook is just 10 years old. Our lifestyles have changed ever since social media sites like Facebook and Twitter came into our lives, completely reshaping the way we interact with the world.
This leads us to wonder, how have we survived our pre-social media days? Just as important, what would social media look like if we them had back then? Like way, way back?
Finding answers, we look at graphic designers who have perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the past through these social media print ads.
Brazilian ad agency Moma Propaganda created these retro future ads for Maximidia Seminars. Called "Everything Ages Fast", the ad campaign included vintage interpretation of Facebook, Skype, Youtube and Twitter, and looked like they came straight out of Don Draper's office. Each element of the social media was reimagined to better illustrate the futuristic past: the bulky monitors, handheld phones and a device that would pass as a tablet. The dated-yet-clever copies and vintage typefaces effectively execute the period the campaign is trying to inspire. The whole thing reminds us of The Jetsons' too.
The Facebook Company: Striking, Miraculous, Social Team-Up!
Because nothing is more straightforward than a double-ended arrow.
Twitter: The sublime, mighty community with just 140 letters!
JUST 140 letters. More than that, the letters will fly out of the screen, as indicated in this ad.
YouTube! The Champion Address On The Internet!
"Send and watch splendid and captivating films, 24/7" Apparently, Netflix is still unheard of.
Skype: The Fabulous Voice System Able To Put Your Family Together
Works seamlessly like an intercom - push to speak.
If Social Media Today Were Reimagined As Penguin Books
Stéphane Massa-Bidal is a designer and art director based in Epinouze, France. Better known as Retrofuturs, he is the genius behind this series of social media posters reimagined as Penguin book covers called "Web Services Cover Therapy".
Retrofuturs described his creative process on an interview with +81 magazine:
"'Web Services Covers Therapy' started when I suddenly remembered while walking down the hallway at home an idea that had been rattling around in my head for many years to do something with social networks and Penguin book series. My way of doing things is to apply one code to another and challenge the viewer. My job, and the true role of symbology, is to analyze several phenomenon and find the relationship between them. Facebook and Twitter are already widely known, but I wanted to convey the history behind them."
Facebook: "The medium is the message"
We have no idea what Platypus Services mean.
Youtube: "Big Brother is watching you"
"Animal Farm" vibes in the air.
Tumblr: "A photograph is always invisible, it is not it that we see"
Waxing poetic.
Twitter: "To be or not to be followed"
Soliloquy is the way to go.
Wikipedia: "I have just got a new theory of eternity"
If it's in Wikipedia, then it must be right.
LinkedIn: "A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have"
Is it just me or is it channeling Machiavelli?
Last.FM: "Play the music, not the instrument"
Listen with the brain, not with the mouth. Something like that.
We Want You!
“Be brief! The enemy might be listening in!”
We found Aaron Wood’s social media propaganda posters more than amusing. A Feeding Hills, Massachusetts-based graphic designer, Wood creates these propaganda posters under the name of Just One Scarf.
In 2012, he took this project in Kickstarter for funding and eventually had them up for sale in his Etsy shop.
Below are just some of his work on social media, as he extended this project to food and technology.
10 Breakup Rules of Facebook
Technically, this video project by Kevin Osgood is not a print ad. But the intent is the same: a retrofied ad for a social media - and a good one at that. Presented by Big Fuel, it shows 10 etiquette rules specifically for Facebook, using a couple's breakup as the perfect scenario. Basically the dos and don'ts of online breakups, the comical script, clever production (loved the part when she uploaded his pictures) and a setting that came straight out of I Love Lucy truly worked.
Click to watch the video.
Screenshots from the video:
Seems harmless at first.
Look at that monitor. Wait, is that ... a typewriter?
This is where the fun begins. Dude has a girlfriend. Dude changed status to single. Dude added a new girl.
Current state of mind.
Just don't.
See that? THAT is the mother of all USB ports!
Let's see how this will all turn out.
This is how it turned out.
Well, that was fast! I hope you enjoyed these "retrofied" ads that never hit the billboards.
It sure was fun researching and posting these.
Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comment form below!
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Olivia dela Rosa
Freelance writer and editor since 2011. Major design enthusiast. Resident writer and trendhunter for Printingdeals.
Free Vintage Posters (High Res)
Standard Poster Dimensions for Print
Design Inspiration: Modern Music Festival Posters
Design Principles: 10 Guidelines to Good Design
Future of Print: Interactive Print Ads
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