Posters - The Banners Telling A Story

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The one aspect of a successful poster is that it should immediately grab the attention of the viewer. Whatever you use your poster for - to advertise your business, or the latest rock concert, or a new movie, perhaps a meting of your political party or a protest meeting, it has to convey its message loud and clear. Using only a few words and perhaps one image, the world should instantly know what you are trying to say.

Very often people use posters to copy famous works of art - it is after all a very cheap way to accomplish this. Posters are also increasingly used for educational purposes.

Collecting posters have become a spare-time activity for large numbers of people. Posters from an era in history, like the 1960s, or the last days of Apartheid, have become collector's items. They are more than just posters - they represent the past struggles and dreams of a whole generation.

The norm when it comes to posters is: big and bright is beautiful. If you want to attract attention after all, you don't go for postcard-size black and white posters. You make them big. You make them colorful. Someone driving past at 80km/h should take one look, and know what you are saying, and get a good feeling in his gut about your message!

When and where did posters start?

Historians report that posters started appearing on the scene all over the world as early as the beginning of the 1800s. Even those early posters already showed that their creators understood the principles of good poster design: you only have a few seconds to get the attention and support of the viewer. So even in those days posters were big, flashy affairs. Governments of the day already used posters to make public announcements. Attention was drawn to new laws and curfews, and public attention drawn to health hazards. Political parties of the time already used posters to inform people about their policies and upcoming meetings. And merchants used posters to lure customers into their shops, or circuses or musical shows.

The poster industry underwent profound changes with the invention of color photography and lithography. Suddenly large, colorful posters could be mass-produced on a scale never before possible. Before that, text-only posters were the norm. The technology to produce them goes back much further. The introduction of mass produced color posters changed the industry in ways that few people could have foreseen.

Soon many new artists were drawn to poster design. Commercial artists were the first, but painters and others soon followed. Poster design suddenly became a serious art form. The artists used styles varying from psychedelic (e. G. Hippie posters from the '60s) to 'art nouveau' and symbolism.

Posters for commercial purposes

Commercial posters were most likely the first on the poster scene. Even during the 1800s merchants were already advertising a wide variety of products and services using posters - from circuses to new beverages.

In the United States the use of posters as a professional art form, a way for artists to express themselves and their feelings, and the dreams of society, never took hold in the same way as in Europe. In the US posters remained to a large degree the sphere of commercial artists. Having said that: many commercial posters were certainly works of art. As an example one only has to view the works of art advertising the road circuses of the 1950s and 1960s in America. And what about the Che Guevara posters of the 60s? Many of these have become collector's items - treasured reminders of an era gone by.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Annie is an expert furniture and interior design writer. Her current area of specialism is bathroom furniture, bunk beds and office furniture sale

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