Pop Art, Logos and Soup Cans

Pop Art Style

I teach about Pop Art more than once in 8th grade. My first lesson is based on Roy Lichtenstein's cartoons- simple shapes, bold primary colors, thick black lines and Ben-day dots. This gives the kids a good overview of the basic Pop Art style.

Soup Cans and Logos

My next Pop Art lesson is on Andy Warhol and his Campbell's Soup Can. What I do is have the kids design their own soup can with its own logo. What I use as a motivator is showing them examples of branding and logos of  different recognizable products. What really excites the kids is when I show examples of  branding and logos that are used by different sports franchises. This really gets them thinking about what type of logo they will design for their soup can.

Symbolism

We talk about the symbolism of different logos and the meaning of the different colors of the examples I show them. I ask lots of questions- Why do you think this symbol was chosen? Do they think there was a special meaning behind the colors use? They come up with a lot of good answers because the logos are so familiar.

Then it is time for them to make their soup can. They still have to work with the Pop Art style but they now have to design a logo for the soup can they create. 

Do you teach about Pop Art? I'd love to hear about it! You can comment below.