"The Medium is the Message" was written by Marshall McLuhan in his work "Understanding Media: The Extension of Man". He believed that the medium of a piece directly effected the meaning and interoperation of the message it carried and further more that the medium actually took precedent over the content and should become the focus of the work. Depending on the medium any given message is received in wether it be film, static image (posters), comics or simply the written word, it drastically effects the way in which the viewer receives message not only in meaning but in experience as well. He saw the mediums of work as having a much more profound effect on society than a single piece of content ever could. The interactions that take place between a subject and the medium on which their content is delivered are far more extensive and altering and yet far more subtle than society at large will ever realize.
I believe that McLuhan's message hold validity in that in our field we are constantly dealing with a hundred different options as to which medium is best to present our clients work wether it be video, print or web and it is interesting to think how those decisions directly effect the ways in which our messages are experienced by the public. His line of thought gives appreciation into how amazing the tools we work with really are and how much effect they have had before we even start our work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message
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