Massaging the Message

The image I chose is a more contemporary way of showing the power of the image stretched across a two-page spread.

Massaging the Message is one of a few books that are landmarks in the integration of text, image, and layout. It is a divide that lives between words and pictures. Massaging the Message and War and Peace are remarkable for smearing the professional, commercial, and formal differences that make up the hierarchies of publishing. Fiore describes the book Massaging the Message as having no original copy. The most striking aspect of the Massaging the Message is the way it explores the space of the book. The literal scale and sequential unfolding as part of its content is an example of this like the full-bleed images that begins to show the idea of a one spread over two pages.

Fiore is a self-taught designer that only had formal education through a few painting and drawing classes. His professional work included magazine design, industrial films, signage, and consultation on electric newspaper. Some thought the book was threatening, “The reflection of those designers with a highly developed moralistic sense was that the book was ‘manipulative’.” This I found to be one of the more interesting quotes in the text because it does not really make a whole lot of sense to me because the book became such an icon with its popular reputation. The book itself even led to a handful of spin-offs including Keep in Touch, and War and Peace in the Global Village. I was intrigued by the example of the image across a two-page spread to be very forceful and loud. “The ability to create meaning by recycling, repeating, and reframing images and texts constitutes Fiore’s graphic response to McLuhan’s assessments of the cultural impact of communication and technology.”