Posters are an ancient artform but their golden
age began in the 1800s. Like no other, artist Jules
Cheret can be considered the father of the modern
poster. Using the recent invention of lithography,
he became the driving force of a wave of bright,
clear designs combining text and illustration.
Artists of the avant-garde movement also
embraced the medium, usually to advertise luxury
goods. The feeling of excess, the colourful style
and the prominent female figure, of which Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1891 Moulin Rouge poster
is probably the most famous, were the key to their
appeal. Lucian Bernhard then pushed the form in
a sparer direction, which focussed on the product
and the information. Then came World War I and
the era of the propaganda poster. After the wars
it was Swiss design and typography – with its
clarity and well-to-do sophistication – that came
to prominence.
“Design trends come and go,” says Nyffeler,
“each having their time in the spotlight. While the
last decade saw some hugely popular scenes
based in minimalism and Swiss-inspired design,NEAL WILLIAMS EXPLAINS HOW HE TRIES TO ENTICE THE VIEWER IN
TELL A TALE
“In the type of illustration-heavy poster design I do,” explains Williams, “I feel like the composition always works
best when it tells some kind of a story. For instance, I did a poster recently that just looks like a large tree as seen
from a low viewpoint. From a distance it’s just a tree, and the interesting perspective may draw you in. But as
you look closer there is a deteriorating fence around the tree, and the background field is full of tree stumps. You
realize there is some kind of narrative involved.” By the time the viewer has realised that, they’re involved enough
to be reading the text, so “incorporating the text in a way that doesn’t feel tacked-on” is also important to
Williams. He says: “I always hand-draw my type so it has a natural feel similar to the poster art and I’ll try to
place it in a creative way that maintains the flow of the composition.Stiller: Lucian Bernhard demonstrates how he The product-orientated work of
brought a simplicity to poster designOn The Job For Victory: The First World
War allowed the patriotic propaganda poster to flourishThe Rainbow: The father of modern posters, Jules
Cheret is still much admired and copied todaythere currently seems to be a strong resurgence in
highly technical and incredibly detailed
draftsmanship that draws as much from 19th
Century commercial art as it does Renaissance
printmaking.” But while these influences are
certainly felt in modern poster design, today’s
designers are often most drawn to what happened
in the 1960s and onwards.
Because today’s teenagers might have profile
pictures and ringtones too, but it’s always been with
the posters on their walls – the tennis girl, the
Trainspotting line-up or Che Guevara – that young
people declare their identity. By putting up posters,
people scream to the world, “This is who I am.” This
can be traced to the 1960s, when the dominance of
photography in print advertising and the cultural
power of pop and rock music saw the dawn of the
psychedelic poster. Lurid colours, suggestive poses
and cool were the name of the game.
Frank Kozik was the artist that first hooked
Jones into poster design. “I saw his works in the
pulpy flesh for the first time at some London
record store in 1993,” he says. “It was so brashly© Neal WilliamsGRAPHICS AND WEB