Historical Function of a Poster? Announcement | Advertisement | Propaganda | Social Activism | Artistic Vehicle
1.
Broadsides (Letterpress)
Posters for Public Announcement.
Printed on one side only, broadsides were used to issue public decrees, new laws and general announcements.
Usually they were quickly and crudely produced in large quantity and distributed free in town squares, taverns, and churches or sold by chapmen for a nominal charge. Broadsides are intended to have an immediate popular impact and then to be thrown away.
Posters and items printed for short term consumption are referred to as printed ephemera.
(Above: Declaration of Independence broadside by John Dunlap, a government printer and publisher in Philadelphia in 1776 Last known sale price for one of these broadsides, $8.14 million.)
2.
Making Large Type
Broadsides were meant to be posted and read from a distance and therefore required larger type. Metal type could not be cast much larger than an inch and still retain the flat surface required for letterpress relief printing. Also it was just incredibly heavy to work with large type.
If a printer did have large type, it was likely that there weren't enough letters available to set all the words in one face so type headlines styles were mixed and matched depending on what was in the shop collection.
The Sale of a Wife example above is from the National Library of Scotland and makes a very entertaining read.
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3.
Wooden Type
"With the expansion of the commercial printing industry in early 19th century America, it was inevitable that someone would perfect a process for cheaply producing the large letters so in demand for broadsides. Wood was the logical material because it's lightness, availability, workability and known printing qualities were enhanced by it's low cost.
Darius Wells of New York found the means for mass producing wooden letters in 1827 and published the first known wood type catalog in 1828. Wells' basic invention, the lateral router was capable of cutting wood into intricate curves and silhouettes. The router was used in combination with William Leavenworth's pantograph (1834) to create decorative wooden letters of all sizes and shapes. For much more wood type information visit the Hamilton Wood Type Museum online or in beautiful Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
4.
Lithographic Posters
The process of lithography depends on the mutual repulsion of grease and water. It was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796 as he searched for an alternative process to expensive metal plate engraving. His method involved drawing with a greasy crayon on finely surfaced Bavarian limestone.
Lithography is one of the most direct processes in printing because one draws directly onto the stone (later metal plates were also used.) The final printed image is in reverse so the images and lettering need to be drawn backwards (often reflected in a mirror or traced backwards on a transfer paper). Two great visuals on how lithography works:
UTube movie explanation of lithography
See the MOMA animation of the process here.
5.
Poster Craze of the Belle Époque
(in France from 1880 -1914) For some the Industrial Revolution created a better life style with a surplus of leisure time and expendable income —a middle class. In France economic growth coincided with a period of peace and frivolity known as the Belle Époque (Beautiful Era) Contributing to the beauty of this period was the lithographic poster, first solely used to market new goods and theatrical entertainment and then embraced as a popular art form.
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) designed the Eiffel Tower for the Paris Exposition of 1889 at the height of the Belle Époque.
Two factors that contributed to the French Poster Style:
• The influence of art Ukiyo-e wood print posters recently arrived from Japan
• Jules Cheret 3 color process lithography
6.
Japanese Ukiyo-e prints
In 1637 the emperor of Japan closed its borders secluding it from the outside world for the next few hundred years. The art of Japan focused inward on the "floating world" or the cultural pleasures of theatres, restaurants, teahouses, geisha and courtesans. Many Ukiyo-e prints were posters advertising theatre performances and brothels, or idol portraits of popular actors and beautiful teahouse girls. The early woodblock prints were spare and monochromatic, printed in black ink only, but later grew rich in color. Japan opened its borders in the 1850's partly due to US pressure applied by Admiral Matthew Perry.
Western artists were deeply influenced by newly imported Japanese textile design, lacquer ware and wood block prints (Ukiyo-e). Ukiyo-e stylistic characteristics were incorporated by impressionist painters Degas, Van Gogh and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Of greatest importance to the Europeans was the
• Black contour outline
• Flat bright colors
• Flat Figures
Europeans did not adopt the ukiyo-e use of empty space or spirituality.
7.
Jules Cheret
Cheret’s "three stone lithographic process," was a printing breakthrough which allowed printers to achieve every color in the rainbow with as little as three separate lithographic stones — usually red, yellow and blue transparent inks overlapping to create new colors. His early subject matter dealt mainly with the gaieties of Parisian night life in theatres and cafes.
8.
The "Maîtres de l'Affiche
Partially due to the Arts and Crafts integration of artist and craftsman and partly due to the growing prestige of the poster with the public, reputable artists were willing to design and illustrate posters. Among those was Toulouse-Lautrec who created many theatrical advertisements.
These artistic prints were so popular that they were stolen off of walls virtually as soon as they were hung. Cheret capitalized on this by organizing the first group exhibition of posters in 1884 then published the first book on poster art 1886."Cheret's recognition announced to Europe that the art of the poster has arrived" from Graphic Design a New History
Cheret arranged for 97 artists to create posters at reduced size suitable for in-home display and marketed them under the name "Maîtres de l'Affiche" (Masters of the Poster). He sold serial editions, each containing five prints, to advance subscribers. These posters are sometimes available today from antique print dealers. FYI here is one.
Poster Art Spreads through Europe and the United States
"The Industrial Revolution in full swing, once basic consumer need's were covered, marketers found it profitable to create new needs, ones consumer's never knew they had. Posters were an ideal way to educate consumers about what they should want.
To convince consumers that fashion, status and convenience were as valid reasons to buy as necessity, marketing experts soon discovered the persuasive technique of showing products being enjoyed by beautiful people in beautiful settings. Pretty women soon smiled out of billboards selling everything imaginable...
Posters for alcoholic beverages provide a good example of art leading the way to break a taboo. In the 19th century, drinking by women was regarded with scorn. As a result liquor ads were addressed almost exclusively to men. Knowing how persuasive men find a pretty face (and a good figure), the posterists put women in liquor posters and showed them not only praising the product but actually sampling it (such as Dubonnet, Vin Mariani, Absinthe Robette, and Mumm Champagne).
This panel from First Ladies of the Poster: The Gold Collection, by Laura Gold,
9.
Alphonse Mucha, a Czech in Paris
Mucha was a painter who moved to Paris and found instant fame when he was asked to make a theater poster for the renowned actress Sarah Bernhardt in 1894. A brilliant series of lithographic prints followed. He was well known for his exaggeratedly abundant hair which exemplified the Art Nouveau style. Try to see his work in person, the PMA has several of these prints.
If you are in Europe, The Belvedere Museum in Vienna is having a show
of Mucha 02.09 — 06.09. It's great.
Privat-Livemont, Belgium
Belgium poster designer Privat Livemont combines the romance of the Pre-Raphaelites and the sensuous style of Art Nouveau with the line and color of Japanese ukiyo-e prints. "An excellent example of female sensuality used in the service of commerce." (Laura Gold, Ladies of the Poster: The Gold Collection.)
See the entire poster here
Another ridiculously sexist illustration is his poster advertising the Casino de Cabourg. Note the swimmer, her costume, her "companions" and the casino.
Edward Penfield, American
Penfield, an art director of Harper's Magazine was a prolific illustrator art editor, graphic designer, writer, painter, educator and mentor. Along with Will Bradley he brought an American spin to the European Style—and that spin did not include naked women in sheer drapes. Quite the opposite, American women wore high collars and were chaste, sporty and independent.
L'Aliment le plus concentré 1898
Henri Van de Velde
Tropon Poster 1898
Van de Velde was one of the originators of the style known as Art Nouveau. The curved line was the dominant theme in his architecture and furniture. This, his only poster design has gained iconic stature among art historians. As described on the American National Gallery web site, "It was created for the Tropon food company as part of a comprehensive design program, the first of its kind for a commercial enterprise. The rhythmic lines -- purely graphic -- appeared on everything from packages of powdered egg white to advertisements and the company's stationery." For more information about Van de Velde on the National Gallery web site...
The 20th Century: Beyond Art Nouveau
"Art Nouveau began to lose its vitality in France with the departure of the three major posterists. Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901; both Mucha and Cheret turned largely away from the poster and dedicated themselves to painting. Artists everywhere found new ways of expressing themselves. The Beggarstaff Brothers in England were the first designers to emphasize more than just the enlarged illustrations with text. They reduced the text to a minimum and designed large, strict compositions. (Quote Source). The Beggarstaff Brothers were William Nicholson & James Pryde, fine artists who used pseudonyms when they produced "commercial art."
Lucian Bernhard, German
The Sachplakat Poster, 1906
"The Priester Match poster is a watershed document of modern graphic design. Its composition is so stark and its colors so starling that it captures the viewer's eye in an instant. When the poster first appeared on the streets of Berlin, persuasive simplicity was a rare thing in most advertising: posters, especially tended to be wordy and ornate. No one had yet heard of its young creator, who, thanks to this poster, was to influence the genre of advertising know as the Sachplakat, or object poster." Quote from Steven Heller's profile on Bernhard on the AIGA web site.
15
Russian Cinema Posters
Stenberg Brothers — 1928
In Russia, political ideology caused the avant-garde to reject fine arts. In a new Communist society "art for use" was in the service of the state. Key in the evolution of the poster was advertising (now a morally superior occupation with ramifications for the new society.) Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg were prominent members of this group. (*This is material quoted from the Museum Of Modern Art web site "Stenberg Brothers.")
To read more...
Most importantly posters can be used for ideological propaganda by any government.
16.
WWI Recruiting Soldiers
At the start of WWI in 1914 there was no draft for the British Army. As newly mechanized war equipment and gas warfare caused huge casualties it was increasingly difficult to get men to enlist. Posters were used to inspire, or shame, men into joining up.
(above) After the sinking of the ship Lusitania, a report circulated about the discovery of a deceased English mother clutching her child,both innocent victims of the attack. No explanation was needed to connect between the image and the word ENLIST.
(right above) Alfred Leete's craftily designed image looks as if it is pointing at you from any vantage point. It depicts England's Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, in 1914.
German Call to Arms & War Bonds
The poster above and below were designed by Lucien Berhardt, the same artist as #14 on this page. His style here has made a dramatic shift from a clean and modern approach back to a conservative German Gothic motif using both traditional lettering style and images of the motherland.
Niklaus
Stoecklin's
Binaca (toothbrush), 1941
Photomontage
John Heartfield, German ex-patriot
Various methods can be used to combine two or more photographs into a singe image —several negatives (combination printing) or multiple exposures. The term photomontage came from the German Dada at the end of WWI, most notably from the work of John (Helmut) Heartfield. He would cut and paste together different photographs often depicting his strong objections to Hitler and the Nazi Party.
Many of his best works utilize famous quotes of leading Nazis, and subtly undermine the intended message by quite ingenious visual puns. See Heartfield's "Millions Stand Behind Me" showing Hitler's true "millions."
19
Sachplakat or Object Poster
First introduced by The Priester Match Poster (see #14) after World War Two, the Sachplakat or Object Poster style reached new heights in Switzerland.
"In 1923 Otto Baumberger completed a uniquely Swiss variant of the object poster for PKZ. The poster was a drawing of a life-size coat with wool fibers, silk lining and PKZ label so realistic that most viewers assumed it was a photograph. Aside from the label, the poster had no text. In 1934, Peter Birkhäuser's PKZ poster of a hyper-realistic button took the sachplakat to its minimalist extreme."
Appealing to the Swiss sense of precision, and perhaps due to its use of a universal language of symbols, the sachplakat became the leading style for Swiss product posters during and immediately following World War II. Four artists in Basel - Birckhauser, Stoecklin, Leupin and Brun - became leaders of a style both playful and elegant, with lithographic standards the envy of the world." Quote Source :International Poster
20
Herbert Matter, Swiss Tourist Posters
"Herbert Matter studied at the Académie Moderne in Paris in the late 1920s before returning to Switzerland to design a series of Swiss travel posters using his signature photomontage technique. He arrived in the US in 1936, designing work for Museum of Modern Art, Condé Nast, the Guggenheim Museum, Knoll Furniture and the New Haven Railroad.
Matter’s advanced techniques in graphic design and photography became part of a new visual narrative that began in the 1930s, which have since evolved into familiar design idioms such as overprinting—where an image extends beyond the frame—and the bold use of color, size, and placement in typography. Such techniques often characterize both pre-war European Modernism and the post-war expression of that movement in the United States." (Source, Stanford University Library)
21
The Swiss International Style
Emerged in Switzerland in the 1950s to become the predominant graphic style in the world by the ‘70s. Because of its strong reliance on typographic elements, the new style came to be known as the International Typographic Style.
The style was marked by:
1.) the use of a mathematical grid to provide an overall orderly and unified structure
2.) sans serif typefaces (especially Helvetica, introduced in 1961) in a flush left and ragged right format
3.) black and white photography in place of drawn illustration. The overall impression was simple and rational, tightly structured and serious, clear and objective, and harmonious.
The new style was perfectly suited to the increasingly global post- WWII marketplace. See Professor Bez Ocko, Hofstra University, The Swiss Poster: Art of Ten Masters...link here
22
Lester Beall
Rural Unification Project
Philip Meggs credits Lester Beall with "almost single-handedly launching the Modern movement in American design." He studied the dynamic visual form of the European avant-garde, synthesized parts into his own aesthetic and formed graphic design applications for business and industry that were appropriate, bold, and imaginative.
In his Rural Unification Posters his
"deceptively simple message is that rural life and American values are indistinguishable.
23
The Non-commercial Poster
Posters have been used to support the causes or protests of disenfranchised Women, Blacks, Latinos, Gays, Native Americans, Environmental Activists and countless other groups. They were especially abundant in the 1960's and 70's when artists would labor over silkscreens to produce strong color fields and bold type at low cost.
The Silence = Death poster
1986, Offset lithography
Act up AIDS activists
See also,The Art of Protest
Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle)
24
Polish Political Posters
Poland has a long tradition of posters from ww2 until 1990.
Freedom on the Fence is a documentary project about the history of Polish posters and their significance to the social, political and cultural life of Poland. Examining the period from WWII through the fall of Communism, Freedom on the Fence captures the paradox of how this unique art form flourished within a Communist regime. The documentary contains interviews with older and younger generations of poster artists, examples of past and current poster work, historic and current film footage of where and how the poster is viewed, and commentaries from both American and Polish scholars and artists on the significance of the Polish poster as a cultural icon.
25
Political Posters Today
Unfortunately there will be no end to the need to make messages to counter war, injustice or abuse in the world. However with competition from the internet, television, and lack or available public space, can the poster stay relevant in the 21st century?
If you want to see a good international on line site for the current poster scene visit Rene Wanner's Poster Page.
"Switzerland stunned many Europeans, including not a few Swiss, when near the end of last year the country, by referendum, banned the building of minarets. Much predictable tut-tutting ensued about Swiss xenophobia, even though surveys showed similar plebiscites would get pretty much the same results elsewhere.
A poster was widely cited as having galvanized votes for the Swiss measure but was also blamed for exacerbating hostility toward immigrants and instigating a media and legal circus. “We make posters, the other side goes to the judge,” is how Alexander Segert put it when we met here the other day. “I love it when they do that.”
He designed the poster in question. As manager of Goal, the public relations firm for the Swiss People’s Party, Mr. Segert has overseen various campaign posters. This one, for the referendum, used minarets rising from the Swiss flag like missiles (“mushrooms,” Mr. Segert demurred, implausibly). Beside the missiles a woman glowers from inside a niqab. “Stop” is written below in big, black letters.
The obvious message: Minarets lead to Sharia law. Never mind that there are only four minarets in Switzerland to begin with, and that Muslims, some 340,000 of them, or 4 percent of the population, mostly from the Balkans and Turkey, have never been notably zealous.
In this heavily immigrant country the ultranationalist Swiss People’s Party is now the leading political party, aided at the polls by incidents like the New Year’s Day attack by a Somali Muslim immigrant in Denmark on Kurt Westergaard, the artist whose caricature of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb in his turban was among the cartoons published in 2005 in a Danish newspaper that provoked violent protests around the world. All across Europe populist parties are growing, capitalizing, to an extent unknown across the Atlantic, on a very old-fashioned brand of propaganda art. The dominance in America today of the 24-hour cable news networks and the Internet, the sheer size of the country, the basic conventions of public discourse, not to mention that the only two major parties have, or at least feign having, a desire to court the political center, all tend to mitigate against the sort of propaganda that one can now find in Europe.
Read complete article here
26
Wes Wilson(above)
Clifford Charles Seeley (below)
Fillmore East, San Francisco
1960's
Wilson pioneered the psychedelic rock poster. Intended for a particular audience, "one that was tuned in to the psychedelic experience," his art, and especially the exaggerated freehand lettering, emerged from Wilson's own involvement with that experience and the psychedelic art of light shows. His influential lettering was derived from Vienna Secessionist lettering he discovered in a University of California exhibition catalogue, and his experimentation with the form led to his recognizable pulsating pictures with undulating letters.
Milton Glaser
In 1955, along with Seymour Chwast, Edward Sorel, and Reynold Ruffin, Milton Glaser co-founded the Pushpin graphic design studio in New York. The studio’s surprising style, which combined aspects of Victorian art, Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco with contemporary typography and illustration, “captured the imagination of the world through its refreshingly organic approach to design and illustration.” While at Pushpin, Glaser designed the incredibly popular poster for Bob Dylan’s 1967 album, “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits.” At the time, Glaser was interested in Islamic miniatures and the psychedelic images emerging from the West Coast. Working from a photograph he’d taken of a striking sign in Mexico, Glaser designed the “Babyteeth” typeface used on the poster. The poster features Dylan's silhouette in black with his wildly dramatic hair looking exotic in electric colors. The expressiveness of the hair contrasts with the soft, geometric lettering, producing a sense of depth and vision that complements Dylan’s music.
Husband and wife, the two work to diminish the boundaries between graphic design and photography—creating collaged three-dimensional images influenced by cubism, technology and architecture. Go to their web site to see an archive of their amazing collaborative work.
Ralph Schraivogel
Swiss Posters Today
In the early 1990’s, Swiss designers employed abundant visual effects in their poster production, dramatically different from the previous refined and rational Swiss style, thus enriching Swiss graphic design with a new, individual dimension. The experimental and independent approach to design employed by Wolfgang Weingart, was successfully adopted by a group of younger, talented graphic designers in the late 1990’s, such as Melchior Imboden and Ralph Schraivogel.
With new technologies dominating the scene, Ralph Schraivogel opts for a traditional creative approach through which he accomplishes visual creations in his posters that, in their final effect, approximate to digitally manipulated images.