Smithsonian D

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Smithsonian D

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Smithsonian D

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Smithsonian D

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ELLENLUPTON

HOWPOSTERSWORK

Smithsonian Design Museum

A guide to the language of poster design

How Posters Work is a book about how designers see. Illustrated with over 330 examples, this primer in visual thinking shows how designers use principles of composition, perception, and storytelling to convey ideas and construct meaning. Presenting pieces by famous pioneers including Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Paula Scher, Philippe Apeloig, and M/M (Paris), as well as rarely seen works by new and little-known artists from the Cooper Hewitt collection, this book explores how posters—powerful acts of visual communication—are produced and experienced.

Cover art: Felix Pfäffli

HOW TO...

TELL A STORY

HOW TO

FOCUS THE EYE

HOW TO

Albert Exergian (Austrian, b. 1973). Iconic TV, 2009–2014.

SIMPLIFY

HOW TO

Paul Rand (American, 1914–1996). DADA, 1951.

OVERLAP

HOW TO

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Tea Drives Away the Droops, 1936.

ACTIVATE THE THE DIAGONAL

HOW TO

Saul Bass (American, 1920–1996). Exodus, 1961.

ASSAULT THE SURFACE

TELL A STORY

Dmitry Moor (Russian, 1883–1946). A Red Present to the White Pan, 1920.

Terry Forman (American, b. 1950)) of Fireworks Graphics Collective. Build a Wall of Resistance, 1983.

Anton van Dalen (Dutch and American, b. 1938). Two-Headed Monster Destroys Community, 1983.

Seymour Chwast (American, b. 1931). March for Peace and Justice, 1982.

Seymour Chwast (American, b. 1931). The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 1977.

Wiktor Górka (Polish, 1922–2004). Cabaret, 1973.

Massimo Vignelli (Italian, 1931–2014). That’s Entertainment: The American Musical Film, 1976.

EXPOSITION

RISING ACTION

CLIMAX

FALLINGACTION

DENOUEMENT

Most posters tell a story in a single frame.

Vincente Canet Cabellón (Spanish, 1887–1951). Peasants: In Order to Stop the Speculation, There is Only One Way, the Cooperation, 1936.

Maximumenergy

Lawrence Beall Smith (American, 1909–1989). Don’t Let That Shadow Touch Them, 1942.

Point of viewcharacter

Something is about to happen

Indirect representation:foreboding,threat, suspense

Call to action

A Careless Word, 1942.

Frederick Siebel, Someone Talked, 1942. Gift of Louise Clémencon, 1949-108-10.

Andrzej Pagowski, Rosemary’s Baby, 1983–84.

Benker & Steiner Werbeagentur AG (Zürich. Switzerland), Zürich Theater Festival], 1996.

FOCUS THE EYE

Lucian Bernhard (German, 1883–1972). Adler, 1909–10.

Unknown designer for the Office of War Information (Washington, D.C., USA). Food is a Weapon, 1943.

José Bardasano Baos (Spanish, 1910–1979). Poisoned Water Causes More Casualties than the Shrapnel, 1937.

1966: Bruno Munari poked fun at the common design gesture of putting a circle in middle of a poster.

Gottlieb Soland, Exhibition Grammo-Grafik, (Recorded Music Graphics) Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich, 1957.

James Miho (American, b. 1933) and Tomoko Miho (American, 1931–2012). Friend? Or Foe? 1976.

Dan Friedman, The Moon, c. 1988.

Felix Pfäffli (Swiss, b. 1986) for Südpol (Kriens, Switzerland). Future Islands, 2014.

OVERWHELM THE EYE

Victor Moscoso, Junior Wells, 1966.

Wes Wilson, The Association, 1966.

Michiel Schuurman, HorseProjectSpace and Deveemvloer Present: Paraat 3, 2007.

Ralph Schraivogel, Cinema Afrika, Filmpodium, Filmtage, 2006.

SIMPLIFY

Albert Exergian (Austrian, b. 1973). Iconic TV, 2009–2014.

From Susan W. Weinschenk, Ph.D., 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People

In 1981, Stephen Palmer asked people to draw coffee cups. These are examples of what they drew.

Most people don’t draw a coffee cup like this.

How to draw a light bulb

Yusaku Kamekura (Japanese, 1915–1997). Yamagiwa International Competition for Lighting Fixtures Exhibition, 1968.

Jean Widmer (Swiss, active France, b. 1929). Préparation du Repas [Meal Preparation], 1972.

Alexander Gelman (Russian, active USA, b. 1967) for Biblio’s. Poetry Readings, 1996.

What about making an emotional connection?

Marek Mosinski (Polish, 1936–1998). Ucieczka King Konga [King Kong Escapes], 1968.

Waldemar Swierzy (Polish, 1931–2013). Midnight Cowboy, 1973.

Paula Scher, Him, The Public Theater, 1994.

Peter Kuper (American, b. 1958) and Seth Tobocman (American, b. 1958). Crack House White House, 1991.

Unknown designer. Capital, 1968. Screenprint. Courtesy of Georgina Gerrish Fine Art.

Seymour Chwast (American, b. 1931) for Amnesty International. Human Rights Now, 1988.

M/M (Paris): Michael Amzalag (French, b. 1967) and Mathias Augustyniak (French, b. 1967). Short text on the possibility of creating an equivalence economy / Liam Gillick, 2005.

OVERLAP

Paul Rand (American, 1914–1996). DADA, 1951.

Alexander Gelman (Russian, active USA, b. 1967). Walls of the City, 1992.

Felix Pfäffli (Swiss, b. 1986). Salzhaus, 2014.

Felix Pfäffli (Swiss, b. 1986) for Weltformat Poster Festival (Lucerne, Switzerland). World Format 13, 2013.

Massimo Vignelli (Italian, active USA, 1931–2014) for Knoll Textiles (East Greenville, Pennsylvania, USA). Knoll International, 1967. Offset lithograph. 81.3 × 120.7 cm (32 × 47 1/2 in.). Gift of Lella and Massimo Vignelli, 2009-42-1.

Michael Bierut (American, b. 1957). LIGHT/YEARS, 1999.

Erik Nitsche (Swiss, 1908–1998). Atoms for Peace, General Dynamics.

Sulki & Min (Seoul, South Korea): Sulki Choi (South Korean, b. 1977) and Min Choi (South Korean, b. 1971). Works in the Open Air, 2010.

ACTIVATE THE DIAGONAL

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Contact with the World / Use the Telephone, 1934.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Hello—the Telephone at Your Service, 1937.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Tea Drives Away the Droops, 1936.

Converging lines imply depth

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Checkmate, Ballet by Arthur Bliss, 1937.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). A Subway Poster Pulls, 1947.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Oxhey Woods, 1915.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Oxhey Woods, 1915.

Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954). Well Done! World Records Villiers, ca. 1928.

Philippe Apeloig (French, b. 1962). Birth of a metropolis, 1872–1922, 1987.

Philippe Apeloig (French, b. 1962). American in Paris, 2014.

Design : Phili

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ssion : Lézard

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COMÉDIEMUSICALE AUTHÉÂTREDU CHÂTELETMusique et lyrics

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Takenobu Igarashi (Japanese, b. 1944). NOH: UCLA Asian Performing Arts Institute, 1981.

Massimo Vignelli (Italian, active USA, 1931–2014) and Michael Bierut (American, b. 1957). The Business of Design, 1988.

Takenobu Igarashi (Japanese, b. 1944). Graphic Designers on the West Coast, 1975.

Mark Gowing (Australian, b. 1970). Jonathan Jones: untitled (the tyranny of distance), 2008.

ASSAULT THE SURFACE

Saul Bass (American, 1920–1996). Exodus, 1961.

Jędrzej Stępak (Polish, b. 1953).Accused June Fifty-Six, 1981.

Fritz Fischer (German, 1919–1997). The Tenderness of Wolves, 1973.

M/M (Paris): Michael Amzalag (French, b. 1967) and Mathias Augustyniak (French, b. 1967). Short text on the possibility of creating an equivalence economy / Liam Gillick, 2005.

Cornel Windlin (Swiss, b. 1964). The Birth of Cool, American Painting from Georgia O’Keefe to Christopher Wood, 1997.

Jianping He (Chinese, b. 1973) for NLB Galerija Avla (Lubljana, Slovenia). In Between He Jianping, 2012.

Philippe Apeloig (French, b. 1962), Noises of the World], 2012.

Andrzej Klimowski (British, active Poland, b. 1949). Permanent Vacation, 1991.

Karl Domenic Geissbühler (Swiss, b. 1932). Samson and Delila, 1996.

Smithsonian D

esign Museum

Smithsonian D

esign Museum

Smithsonian D

esign Museum

Smithsonian D

esign Museum

5” x 3

.54

”3

.45

” x 2.4

5”

2.18

” x 1.54

”1.2

4 in

” x 0.8

8 in

”

As th

e marks d

ecrease in scale

legib

ility of S

mith

son

ian is lo

st

Seco

nd

ary Co

op

er-Hew

itt Logo

s Typo

grap

hic S

ystem(S

pacin

g S

ystem b

etween

Co

op

er-Hew

itt logo

and

Sm

ithso

nian

mark)

11.02

HO

W P

OS

TE

RS

WO

RK

E

LLEN

LUP

TON

ELLENLUPTON

HOWPOSTERSWORK

Smithsonian Design Museum

A guide to the language of poster design

How Posters Work is a book about how designers see. Illustrated with over 330 examples, this primer in visual thinking shows how designers use principles of composition, perception, and storytelling to convey ideas and construct meaning. Presenting pieces by famous pioneers including Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Paula Scher, Philippe Apeloig, and M/M (Paris), as well as rarely seen works by new and little-known artists from the Cooper Hewitt collection, this book explores how posters—powerful acts of visual communication—are produced and experienced.

Cover art: Felix Pfäffli