POP and POS
In the years shown here, “Point Of Purchase” and “Point Of Sale” were the terms to describe the many items that made products appealing, (Today the term: Point Of Sale or POS is widely defined as the process of purchasing the product or service.)
In the years of 1970 to 1975, I was able to touch on this area of marketing. From label and product designs to the promo pieces that brought attention to the product in a store setting. These assignments gave me a sense of being there, greeting the customers. (I was young.)
The A. Carlisle & Co. of San Francisco had the printing and construction equipment to develop a variety of store displays. Carlisle’s creative directors gave me — twelve assignments. Here are some examples:
Shasta: In 1889 “Shasta” was known for the waters from the Mt. Shasta, CA region.
In the years after 1931 it was developed into a ginger ale or soda and they were offered usually as a mix for alcoholic drinks. In the 1950s Shasta Cola became available in cans. Operating from their headquarters in Hayward CA, the Shasta company was a nearby client for advertising assignments.
1970 Shasta Cola, Shelf‐Talker. This was an unusual idea at that time – opaque inks printed on foil, with a die‐cut. This was to show along with the Shasta Cola displayed on the market shelf.
C&H Sugar: (California and Hawaiian Sugar Company) As early as 1906, ships from Hawaii were sailing into San Francisco Bay, then northeast through San Pablo Bay reaching the port of Crockett where they offloaded raw cane sugar. C&H today, produces 700,000 tons of sugar annually. C&H was a steady client for San Francisco ad agencies and printing companies.
1971 C&H Sugar Hawaii (3‐D wire hangers). Here the request was to have two “Wire‐Hangers” with two different scenes on each side (one showing daytime and the other side, nighttime. Also there was a banner with the words: “LUAU LAND”
1972 C&H Sugar (Wire Hangers). I first tried other rough ideas: an egg and bunny as a folded die‐cut in an egg shape – – a little bunny – – a chicken – – then two layouts preceded the final five wire‐hangers.
1973-Electric & Gas Industries Association –EIGA. Originally headquartered in San Francisco, with roots from the early 1930s, EGIA began as a nonprofit membership association with the mission to help promote the sale of energy‐efficient appliances for retailers throughout the state of California. EIGA is now located in Sacramento, CA.
1973: Clorox’s Liquid‐plumr
“Liquid‐plumr” made by Clorox with headquarters in Oakland CA, was another regional client. Not having a color Xerox in those years, I show these four examples in b/w. The one chosen was to be rendered as finished art, printed and then placed in markets near the product.
The large wine industry in California gave the Carlisle Company many opportunities of displaying a variety of displays and bins that would hold many bottles and have photographs portraying an elegant display of the wines.
1973: Inglenook wine was founded in Rutherford, California during 1879 by Gustave Niebaum, a Finnish sea captain.
This Inglenook page of layouts offered the client a choice of photographic settings. The clients would choose the mood that they wanted displayed and a photographer would follow the basic “look” and be the one to choose all of the elements for the “table‐top” setting. The chosen “look” is shown also.
1973: Chilean Wines. Carlisle’s client, here, might have been a company dealing mostly with wines imported into San Francisco Bay. It might have been the beginning of the San Francisco Wine Trading Company. (I have no other source.) For this assignment, we offered many choices of subjects for the “feel” of a Chilean vineyard. Two of the subjects were developed.
1973: One of California’s oldest and most renowned wineries, Geyser Peak Winery was founded in 1880 by Augustus Quitzow, a pioneer in Alexander Valley winemaking,
1974: POP concepts for imported BABYSHAM.
1973 – 1974: Annacorré. I don’t have notes on this display sheet as to who brought this job to us, nor the name of the parent winery. I cannot find any information about this wine, on line.
United Vintners Starting in 1975 I got a number of assignments from United Vintners, usually through ad agencies such as McCann Erickson. Some assignments were also for magazine ads, and posters for Guild Brandy. A “warm‐up” jacket was offered.
How many ways can you offer a wood wine‐rack for $22.00?
For Inglenook, these b&w copies were Magic Marker color sketches to show eleven ways to make that offer on their in‐store display bins.
This other (folded) display layout was to be placed behind a collection of Inglenook bottles.
United Vintners, in those days, also had the three TJ Swann ($1.75) fruit wines: Easy Nights, Mellow Days, and After Hours. These are no longer available in markets. This “Dial a Wine” was to be attached to the refrigerated cases that held these wines. The turn of the dial to 15 descriptive sentences, would offer the suggested fruit wine for each occasion!
This was one of three strange assignments, so far in my career. (The first was the packaging of mealworms for fishing. (“Mighty Mealys” was a previous story.) The other was for a J. Walter Thompson client: Shakey’s Pizza. They planned a Christmas P.O.P. poster showing a slice of pizza with the Shakey’s logo as the star on the top. 7‐Up was an additional product to show – so bottle caps were ornaments and the 7‐Up bottle was the trunk of the tree. (I’ve tried to forget that assignment.)
Browne Vintners
Paul Masson (1859 – 1940) emigrated from Burgundy, France to California in 1878. In 1892 he developed his first sparkling wine. Masson eventually became known as the “Champagne King of California”.
Late 1970s: David Reid, creative director at Browne Vintners, planned that this poster for Paul Masson wines to be, actually, a P.O.P.!
The artist, Dick Moore, said that it was offered FREE– as a “tear‐off‐sheet”.
ADASF 1958 – 1971
Here is a collection of designs accepted in the annual exhibitions of the Art Directors and Artists Club of San Francisco. Point Of Purchase aka: Point Of Sale.
One might question how a large outdoor board could be a point of sale. The two “OK” boards, in the ‘70s, were place at the side of the large Chevrolet lots selling “OK” approved used cars. Too bad, that the annuals were only in black and white. (I had one color example, so I added it.
The many San Francisco Bay Area graphic artists and art studios — had steady sources of employment. Reviewing all of these examples from the few years shown, I wonder how the POP industry is operating now. Do artists still have the freedom to develop and render various choices for the client, printing shops, or ad agencies – – still with markers or what?
Ann Thompson
An Apple For The Artist
Long before an Apple Computer became one of my art tools, I was asked to create Illustrations “the old fashioned way” for the Apple IIGS Owner’s Guide (manuals are no longer offered).
Apple’s Macintosh had been introduced in 1984, yet the Apple II series of computers continued for about ten more years. When I was awarded the job on 8−26−85 my finished artwork was still accomplished with illustration boards, pens, brushes and inks. At that same time, I had my freelance and agency‐in‐house artist space in the Vicom Associate’s offices on Battery Street in San Francisco.
There were a couple of meetings with Apple, when I would drive down to Cupertino to plan an art style and page design and also determine my price for the job. Translating copy to art for Apple Computer’s IIGS manual, I was asked to keep my spots “light‐hearted”. Everything developed smoothly and when I needed the accuracy of depicting the four Apple computers available those days, I turned to Richard Moore (freelancing from our home) to compose and create the finished detailed art of the four existing line of Apple II computers.
Apple IIGS Owner’s Guide. 1986, Apple Computer, Inc.
Concepts and Illustrations: Ann Thompson, Art Direction: Molly Tyson; additional product illustrations: Dick Moore.
Soon, more Apple II Guides were needed, but my original agency accounts in SF needed me. My contacts in Cupertino asked me “Are there any more like you at home?” and I said, “Yes” and Richard Moore completed several more manuals for them. Apple was glad that Richard set us up at home with an Apple IICX –$16,000 (at that time) including printer, scanner, (the works)! Richard’s Apple illustrations for the manuals were, for the first time, created with an Apple computer!
The Macintosh, A Better Apple Was Presented.
Apple’s Macintosh computers were being introduced and soon set up in Vicom Associates’ art department. At one point, the agency wanted to test the Macintosh’s abilities against my usual methods of making the large, 24” X 36” — presentation boards for the agency’s meetings with their various clients. The requirements: –quality of message and speed — I won, achieving both requirements!
The art department could only print letter‐sized prints from their Macs. The crew in the art department had to (1‐search and choose from the limited choices of clip‐art, (2‐compose the type, boxes, arrows and images, (3‐print out the document, (4‐send it out to a copy shop to make a Photostat up to display size and then (5‐wait for the b/w print and when it arrived, spray‐mount it to a foam core board. I had the benefit of 1 sheet of large layout paper, full color (markers and pencils) and I could compose unlimited subjects. I often had to work through the night on those display boards that were to fly in the morning to an early meeting on the east coast. (Using the Mac, the agency would have had to keep the art crew and copy shop into the night.) My boards became known in this agency as “Annie‐Boards”! When one of our art directors moved to another advertising agency, she, out of habit, asked for “Annie‐ Boards” to be made.”Animatics”?, “animation?”, her co‐workers asked. She said that she had to describe my boards.
(Note: I don’t have the exact example from the competition, because it was shown at the planned client meeting.)
There were times that I could have asked for a Mac in my room in the agency, but there were young and eager hires ready to sit there with and art director over their shoulder, and I knew that I’d get into it on my own at home. When I did, we had an AppleIICX at home. My abilities grew as each new graphic software program became available. I experimented with all kinds of subject, yet I would keep trying subjects needed for my agency assignments.
With the earlier computers and drawing programs, drawing with a “mouse” (like a small brick) it seemed not to matter if I was left or right‐handed. The very early computer line art had the large pixels. “Studio 8” offered a lot to the graphic artist, but the edges were still very rough. The Mac and the two Adobe programs: Photoshop and Illustrator offered a huge range of different qualities for different needs. These show the improvement of the graphic programs and my improvement using them.
Personal Experimental:
Job Subjects:
Ten Second Manager
Around the mid ‘90s I received many assignments for Apple University (internal teaching publications). One assignment from Apple University was a pocket‐sized handbook for employees — the style of the illustrations was to be “more humorous”. Following the copy that was written for the pocket sized handbook, 23 humorous illustrations were accepted.
Apple University – The Ten‐Second Manager. 1996, Apple Computer, Inc.,
Copy: Molly Tyson, Design and Illustrations: Ann Thompson, Evangelism: Sherri Rose, Production & Moral Support: Ken Freehan
Internal Homepage: Apple University
The first meetings were with the title, “The Art of Management”. Many more page arrangements brought us to the next sketch that you see with the title “Apple University”. The final design is shown here on Netscape, the web browser of that time.
“Leader’s Lounge” was a link from the Homepage. The highlighted objects in the Lounge were “links” to additional pages with more written information.
Apple University’s Catalog of Services
Forty pages plus cover with 15 illustrations (mostly of them repeated from the Ten Second Manager.
These assignments, above, for Apple University were my favorites because of the amount of creative freedom they gave to me. The Mac became my favorite art tool. I’m on our iMac, now.
Ann Thompson
Bill Shields
We have previously posted collections of Willi Baum and Dick Moore and most recently, some of Earl Thollander’s Chinese cooking illustrations.
Here is a showing of Bill Shield’s commercial art from the years: 1961 to 1975
Now, examples of his fine art (with views of his workspace‐easel with art in progress).
Bill and family lived on Pine Street in San Francisco. In time, by re‐building the home, it became the “Artists Inn” – with warm B&B hospitality and it was decorated with Bill’s paintings.
Bill also remodeled the building at the rear of their property. It was Bill’s studio and originally had spaces for other artists. Later, it also became an addition to the inn that welcomed visitors to San Francisco.
Show 3‐Artists Inn 1, 2 & 3
Ann Thompson
The 4 Caballeros (Part 2)
1962 The San Francisco Examiner PICTORIAL LIVING. When three of the four artists returned to San Francisco, their sketches inspired paintings. The San Francisco Examiner’s headline “How Six Bay Eyes Saw Mexico” did not include the fourth artist, Willi Baum. Because at that time, Willi was back in Mexico, in San Miguel, where he was designing a mural there. So Willi was not shown in the photo with the Examiner’s story.
Sept/Oct 1962 Communicating Arts Magazine
Here also, are six pages showing the art and it includes the written comments from the artists. (The sketch that you see at the bottom of each page was a fifteen‐foot long, 360‐degree drawing that Earl Thollander made as he viewed the complete row of buildings surrounding the open square where the artists were sketching.
On November 7, 1962, there was an exhibition of sketches and paintings that were a result of the trip. It was held at the Art Unlimited Gallery in San Francisco. The gallery was accessed from the ground floor and then a strait staircase down to a basement. Willi had recently returned from San Miguel, but on the night of the gallery show, he appeared in a wheelchair at the top of the long flight of stairs. The crowd showed concern about Willi’s condition and worried how he planned to get to the lower level. Then, following his plan in “making an entrance” he stood up from the wheelchair and casually descended the stairs!
Not long after that occasion, Bill established a studio in New York. As a member of the Society of Illustrators, there, he received and awarded award of merit with his painting developed from one of his sketches from the trip in Mexico (the last of the images that you see above). The four amigos, together Other sketch trips followed. Each of the four produced more and more paintings, beyond their commercial work.
Ann Thompson
Bill Shields – Friend And Artist
I first met Bill when he appeared in San Francisco in 1960 and came to my studio on the recommendation of a teacher, Marty Garrity, who taught cartooning at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art in Chicago. Bill studied there during the years 1945 to 1946 and I was there from 1948 to 1950. Marty kept tabs on most of his students and I’m sure he helped many to get together later when an opportunity came up. Bill’s arrival in San Francisco was smashing! He had no problem in captivating his clientele with his stunning design and artwork. His illustrations were appearing everywhere and his swift execution kept him busy. He was up to the demand and never disappointed!
I was living in Mill Valley and Bill soon moved his family there. He and I, for a time, commuted into the city in his Porsche. We brought our families together on camping trips where we sketched. Bill brought his talents into play designing and finishing his home to his standards. We often sketched together in the city and managed many weekends traveling with other artists, sketching and painting in the Gold country and along the northern California coast. For two weeks in 1962 our artist friends, Earl Thollander and Will Baum, joined us on a trip to Mexico where we visited the west coast town of Guaymas and then we traveled southeast to an old cobblestone town named Alamos. This is where we spent most of our time sketching and enjoying the great differences from our lives in the Bay Area. On our way back north we visited the Joshua Tree National Park. Willi set his camera’s timer and staged this photo. Here are three quick sketches that I made of Bill.
After our return, we prepared a gallery show in San Francisco of paintings developed from some of our work accomplished there in Mexico. During our stay in Mexico I renewed my aversion to the American Cockroach, which were plentiful there. My fellow artists decided to capture one and put it in an envelope and tucked it under my pillow. The scratching sound alerted me to their joke. Bill addressed some of his many envelopes, without roaches, that I received though the years as “Dickaroacha”. Many years later in Hawaii, I overcame the aversion, and lived with many such creatures.
I was always amazed that Bill’s embellished envelopes actually made it to my mailbox. His collection had a few of mine, like this last one that you see above.
In late 1962 (after the gallery show) Bill moved and worked in New York for quite a few years and in 1975 he returned to San Francisco where he established his Artists Inn studio where he painted. He also taught at various academies in the city and Bay Area. Lucky students! My return from Hawaii to San Francisco in 1982 gave us a chance to catch up and enjoy each other’s company and families, once again. Many lunches and partying happened through the years and an occasional sketch trip was always a joy.
Dick Moore