Commercial art

Commercial art, general term for any of the visual arts used in business, especially advertising, such as designing, drawing, and lettering for illustrations and advertisements, design and preparation of posters, billboards, display cards, packages, etc. The commercial arts are often distinguished from the fine arts in that their basic aim is to sell a product or service. But a more significant difference is that the products of commercial art have to be able to be reproduced by such techniques as zinc, steel, and halftone engraving; rotogravure; lithography; etching; electrotyping; and photography.