How Posters Work

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

This poster was for the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's. The Spanish government was at war with the fascist uprising. The glass of water was used to show how the Spanish government could supply clean water to people while the uprising couldn't. They also utilize a diagonal path for the central items that are focused on.  It gives it a sense of drama and connection and makes the piece more exciting through the directional placement of the glass of water. She also shows other posters that utilize this diagonal position to emphasize the difference in how it tells the story. If the glass was straight it wouldn't look as powerful and the people under would look like they were overreacting. If it is diagonal more it shows more about its significance not only to the poster but also to what it is trying to represent.

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

It is meant to represent American television shows and boil down the essence of the show into one object that represents the show. It simplifies complex topics and stories into a single mark or icon. This ends up connecting to graphic designers and how they think because they usually have to simplify complex ideas and topics into something like a brand or logo for a customer. They want to find something in your brain and appeal to it in a way that's easily communicated. For this poster it uses an image or a simplified mark in order to represent The Simpsons through one of the main characters hair and expresses what the shows about through Homer's significance to the show.

Victor Moscoso, Junior Wells, 1966.

This is a psychedelic poster that is purposefully made to be hard to look at. They are posters that depict many different topics and convert the ethos of the music experience into something visual. This is the reason why it's hard to look at because of the look and it makes it hard to understand and hard to make sense of. It gets the message across in a unique way and attracts the viewers attention by making them question what the poster is about and get intrigued by the posters meaning. They are based on modern color theory and art and are meant to be a crazier take on the typical types of posters that are made.

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

This is a film poster that is made from their own interpretation of the movie and the story. they utilize that in order to use hand drawn art rather than a still of the movie or an image of an actor. This represents King Kong and representing the mysterious and ominous aura King Kong has as well as his sheer size and power. Along with that it represents his human likeness and as someone to connect with as the hero of the story. This also makes you feel closer to King Kong and feel like there is a connection between you and him. 

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

These posters show movement and tell a story through that movement. The legs on the pigeon show moving forward and show that they are going places. This ends up connecting to the purpose of the poster in multiple ways. For example the legs moving forward show the strides being taken for peace and justice and the different people working to achieve that. It also has a literal meaning with the legs moving forward to represent the march and walking in the march. It is a unique way to represent the purpose and what it is asking you to do.