It was years ago that I first spotted this poster in a magazine, and since then, there has always been a place somewhere at the back of my mind that I would wonder of its origins. In fact, this poster inspired a crayon doodle that led to my own foreign food-and-animal advertisement poster, called “El Zorro Rosado Salchichas”. After some research, I learned that the poster was created by Ken Bailey, an artist born in 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah who has owned the Bailey Nelson Gallery of Seattle since 1987. The gallery specializes in art styles such as Northwest Coastal, Southwestern, and Native American and features museum-quality examples of these styles. It also showcases regional artists, including Ken Bailey himself.
Ken Bailey is most famous for his vintage-style posters featuring advertisements that include domestic animals, mostly cats and dogs, and some sort of product, mostly food or drink (in one case, there is a poster with a horse advertising lotion). His style is very simplistic, utilizing cartoony and anthropomorphized animals that are endearing and humorous. These fictional advertisements are reminiscent, to me, of the advertisement of the 1920’s and 30’s.
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| My own Animal-and-Food Poster, from 2007 or 2008 |
He also has a series of “Stupid Pet Trick”s, such as “Cookie on the Nose”, “Play Dead”, and “Chase Your Tail”. These images are less clean than his advertisements, instead using a more childish and painterly look. The rest of his images still deal with domestic animals and are often humorous portraits or depict canine reveries, all the while keeping a whimsical and simple air.
Examples of Ken Bailey’s work: http://www.kenbailey.com/limited-edition-prints.html
Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide by Johanna Drucker and Emily McVarish
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