Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
levels. People walking, riding a bus, a train, a car,
or on bicycles had a chance to catch a glimpse of
the unique characteristic of a poster. If such visual
summary was catchy enough, they could come back
to the poster (often in a different part of the city) to
look at the image and read about the event. Thus
the first imperative resulting from a visual power
of the image often surpassed its verbal component.
Along with illustrations, which almost till
the end of the 20
th
century were far more com-
mon than photographs, these informative posters
comprised a spectacle title written in large let-
tering and particulars about the cast, place, and
dates of performances. Posters of this kind, which
were also installed inside the theater, opera, or
philharmonic buildings, have been considered art
works, displayed in galleries and museums, and
treasured by the poster art collectors. There are
international poster exhibitions, for instance at
the Colorado State University, or at the Warsaw,
Poland International Poster Biennale (http://www.
postermuseum.pl/en/page/show/biennale-history)
and poster galleries, for example, the Wilanów
Poster Museum in Warsaw (http://www.poster-
museum.pl/). A Poster Gallery in Krakow, Poland
specializes from 1985 in Polish promotional and
commercial posters, with a collection of tens of
thousands film, opera, theater, exhibition, music,
and circus posters, some of them very old. Cur-
rently, vintage poster art galleries and stores (one
can find them on some campuses in California),
often specialize in antique posters from many
countries, and mostly sell poster art online.
Every day we come upon eye catching visual
messages promoting or denoting some actions,
attitudes, or decisions. Some of such affirmative
posters are called motivational or inspirational
posters. For example, we are encouraged to 'Re-
duce, Reuse, Recycle (water and energy)' and
'Donate Blood.' Some posters help organize
our workplace or private life, often telling about
detailed, specific actions: 'Be kind, rewind' (the
VCR era is over, so it became history now) or even
'Sketch daily' (in accordance with this topic's
mantra). There are also demotivational posters
that parody the motivational posters, for example,
one may find them in “The Onion” magazine.
There is a grey area where many things cannot be
classified as good or bad (for example, during a
war, an opponent is neither a hero or a bad guy).
See Table 5 for Your Visual Response.
Table 5.
Your Visual Response: A YES Poster
Select an important topic or an issue worth a discussion, promotion, and sharing. Create an image that provides encouragement for the
viewers to actively support a cause.
