Book Finding

This old, 1910 poster of Manoli cigarettes is so wonderful because it uses geomatic shapes and a good use of space. It feels like a drawing and the colors work well.  How something so simple can have an appeal to receive recognition to this day is beyond me.  You don't see that anymore.  This piece was designed by Lucian Bernhard, whom worked with  Manoli cigarettes and designed a number of posters for the company.


♣ Michael

Creative Brief 2

1. Identification: "Everyone Must Vote in the Election of Soviets" poster designed by Gustav Klutsis in 1930 for a series

2. Project and problem: It was a poster that was designed to get the attention of soviet citizens to vote. It uses the hand of voting that's very symbolic for that time in that country.

3. The client: The dictator during the time. 

4. Intended Audience: Citizens of the Soviet Union to get them to vote.

5. Core message: It was basically commanding people to vote during the election because it uses the word, "MUST".

6. Hoped for outcome: Hopefully citizens will listen and vote for the Soviets.

7. Graphic strategy: It uses the color red and black that was iconic for the time.  The hand an image dominating the poster as and since it repeats.  It was another symbol of its time.  The hard all capital Russian letters demand the citizens that they must vote in the upcoming election.  It really makes an audience pay attention to it.

♣ Michael

Week 3 Book Finding: Poster for Carry-Us-All Portable Carousels

I stumbled on this colorful poster, page 157, printed by the Riverside Print Company of Milwaukee, the year of print is unknown.  The client for this poster was C.W. Parker Company's Carry-Us-All portable carousels since they were the popular brand of its time for this particular product for the circus and carnival businesses in the midwest.  The idea for these posters were to be big and bold to catch the view of people and really represent the circus where these rides would be offered.  It certainly worked for me since the color of this small print in a book caught my eye, the photo doesn't do it justice.  The letters are bold and simple placed on bright backgrounds.  This was made using chromolithography, a colored printed picture using lithographic stones.  What's interesting, also about this piece, is that the printers left a yellow border at the top where local printers could place information about the event.  It makes it a versatile ad because they didn't have communication methods like we do now where they could just make a phone call and tell the original printer what they wanted on the poster.

♣ Michael

Typeface: The Movie

 Official Typeface:The Movie poster

I just had the opportunity to watch a documentary, scary I know, called "Typeface" and with all honesty, it was quite interesting. Also it helped that it didn't have a feature length film time stamp on it, it was only an hour long.

The basis of the film was at a museum and print shop in a small rural town, Two Rivers, Wisconsin where you learn about traditional technique used in wood type before the computer and digital graphic design. It follows a guy named Jim, who wants to bring tourists and industry to the town by having this museum dedicated to wood type beginnings because it's a dying art history that not many people know about.

This museum isn't an average museum that's all stiff, proper, and intangible. There is an opportunity to actually touch the old wood type letters that are stored in drawers, as if it was the days where this was a running print factory. A visitor can even witness some print production. Honestly,it doesn't look like a museum at all, it definitely looks like an operating print factory.

I think it's a great opportunity to visit this place because if you're like me, don't make fun of me, but I'm 24 and have always wondered how people made those wonderful posters without a computer in the olden days. By watching this documentary film, I have learned that process and I'm really still amazed. I even asked my classmate, "So is this how the cowboys made wanted posters?" The answer was yes.

Example of a Wood type printed poster

If you don't know what is so cool about wood type, I would say discover it like I did, watch the film, but here's a little something so you aren't left wondering as I was. "Wood type were letterforms and illustrations dating back to the first known Chinese wood block print. The usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, which was pasted to the wood. Then cut around the letter with a knife, taking out the parts to be left blank." Sourced: http://www.woodtype.org/museum_information_about.shtml

Totally an awesome film and worth the watch so you're not left wondering "How were posters made before the computer."

♣ Michael

Logo Sketches for SUNsation Lemonade

♣ M