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History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design
Poster design gained importance in Turkey after the Second Constitutional Monarchy period in the last decade of the Ottoman Empire, when the new regime provided artists and designers much more freedom to create modern art than ever before. Most examples of poster design from the Pre-Republican (or post-war) era in Turkey are informational posters designed for the government to raise funds for various post-war organizations. The first examples of the lithography technique being used in poster design were seen after the Balkan war, when the government started a campaign and spread posters all over the country to get people's help and support for orphans. During the same years, Ferah Theater in Istanbul was also using lithography in the posters they designed for their plays, such as Hab Mich Lieb (1).
The real milestones of Turkish poster design came after 1925, when Ihap Hulusi Gorey, who was soon to become the one and only poster designer in Turkey, returned from Munich (Germany) after graduating from Kuntsgewerbe Schule (School of Arts and Crafts) where he was majoring in painting. Hulusi designed many posters for the Turkish government and almost every major Turkish brand, including Sumerbank, Garanti Bankasi, Milli Piyango, and also some international brands such as Kodak. The influence of his former teacher, famous German poster artist Ludwig Hohlwein, can easily be seen in Hulusi's work; the way he creates photographic illustrations of figures and faces but using only a very limited color palette is quite similar to Hohlwein's work. In that sense, Ihap Hulusi Gorey was the only person ever in Turkey to work in that style. He is also known as the first person to have a poster exhibition in Turkey.
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History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
Hulusi was active starting from the very early years of the modern republic, and being the only graphic designer back in the time, he designed many informational posters to promote domestic goods, domestic liquor etc. aiming to vitalize the economy. In these posters, he always tried to depict the idea of equality, unity and peace. The Sumerbank fabric store ads (2) are a good example of these social campaigns.
By the 1950s, Hulusi was not the only Turkish poster artist anymore; as many others followed his path. Selcuk Onal, Mesut Manioglu and Fikret Akgun are some of the notable poster artists that gained attention in this decade. In the early 1950s, cinema became the most popular social activity in Turkey, therefore hundreds of films were made within only a few years. Selcuk Onal designed posters for almost all of the movies made in those years, including "Isyan" (4). Like Hulusi, Onal uses photorealistic illustrations to give an idea of what the story in the movie is about. However, Onal's style was a lot more contemporary and displayed a better understanding of composition, color and shapes; his posters had almost a graphic novel quality to them. Onal also chose to use a richer color palette instead of limiting himself to a basic one.
The pioneers of Turkish poster design are mostly Turkish artists who studied arts in major European countries. Just like Ihap Hulusi Gorey and Selcuk Onal; Fikret Akgun also got his arts education in Europe and returned from Paris in 1958 after working with famous French poster artist Paul Colin for five years at his own studio. He was the first Turkish graphic designer to introduce an abstract-expressionist style into his/her work. In the early 1960s, when the private
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History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
sector started to progress very rapidly, new printing techniques were used; therefore the work done by Turkish poster artists in this decade are a lot more stylized and much better in quality of the print.
Mengu Ertel was one of the poster artists who became famous after 1960. He was a revolutionary; he used many techniques that nobody had used before. He experimented with mosaic art and used abstract drawings to create and display a minimal, simplified artistic style in poster design. In his "Istanbul Festival" poster (7), he illustrated the silhouette of the city all in mosaic. In 1964, he designed a poster for the musical Kesanli Ali Destani (6), where he abstracted the main character Ali's portrait simply by eliminating the whole face from it, leaving only his hat, his mustache, his coat and a flower in his mouth. The flower was a symbol that portrayed Ali as a womanizer. Today, Kesanli Ali Destanli is still considered one of the most popular poster designs in the history of Turkish graphic design.
The years between 1960 and 1970 are considered to be important years in the history of turkish graphic design. Unlike before, graphic artists introduced context, humor and personal expression into their posters and were able to be recognized by a much larger audience. The first professional association for design in Turkey was also founded during these years. In 1978, GMK was founded as the first professional association for graphic designers.
After 1970, with the developing industry and the beginning of the TV culture, poster design was
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History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
no longer just about cinema and theater posters. With the rapid increase in the number of advertising agencies, posters designed for major corporates promoting their products started to replace the old school theater posters on the walls. Bulent Erkmen is one of the most influential graphic designers of this period, having gained a reputation worldwide. "His work includes posters, printed materials, flag designs and creative concepts for novels and plays. It has been exhibited across the world and collected in museums in Germany and America." (Good50x70) Erkmen is still active in Istanbul, working with a crew of six other people at his own agency, BEK Design and Consultance Ltd. He has won many international awards and has been popular around Europe in the 1990s for his political posters, such as "Equal" (9).
In the late 1990s, the name of Emrah Yucel started to be heard frequently among the Hollywood scene. Currently living in Los Angeles, Yucel has designed many posters for Hollywood movies such as Frida, Kill Bill (10) and Chicago, as well as personal websites for movie stars such as Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Angelica Houston. His work displays perfect composition and typography skills, as well as use of the latest visual design and web development software.
Today, Turkish graphic design is reaching the level of graphic design in the rest of Europe, in terms of quality and production rate. The poster artists who have had the opportunity to study abroad and work with famous European artists in the modern period eventually became the pioneers of poster design in Turkey and they were extremely influential to the ones who came after and lifted Turkish poster design to the level of major European countries.
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(1) Hab Mich Lieb is considered to be the very first poster design that was ever made in Turkey. It was designed for the Ferah Theater in Istanbul. The artist who designed this poster still remains unknown. It is one of the first examples of the use of lithography in Turkish visual arts. The image illustrates a woman dancer, and uses both serif and sans serif type.
Hab Mich Lieb, by unknown artist, 1910. Designed for the Ferah Theater Mixed media
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(2) It was designed by Hulusi for the very first Ministry of Education of the Republic of Turkey right after the revolution as a cover for the book that the ministry released to teach the uneducated people how to read and write. The design was also reproduced as a poster later on. The title of the book is “Village People Reading”, and the image illustrates a learning Turkish villager woman beautifully. The combinaton of the strong sunlight hitting the woman’s forehead and the smile on her face symbolize “hope for the future.” It is most likely that the typeface was also designed, specifically for this poster, by the designer himself. Köy Halk Kıraatı, by Ihap Hulusi Gorey 1925 Mixed Media
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(3) This is another very famous poster by Ilhap Hulusi that was designed to promote the new textile shops of a national bank, Sumerbank. The headline reads “Villager and urban dweller fellow country(wo)men, you can find any kind of fabric you need at any Sumerbank fabric store.” The poster illustrates a peasant and a high-class woman happily going to the Sumerbank store together, and the idea behind the concept was to attract people from all classes by giving the message “Sumerbank stores are where everybody shops, and there is no class difference here; everybody is equal.”
Sumerbank Ad, by Ilhap Hulusi, 1933 Mixed media.
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(4) Selcuk Onal designed posters for most of the movies made in Turkey in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. This poster was designed for the movie Isyan, illustrating the face of the famous Turkish actor Kadir Inanir as a villager who is trapped in a conflict between the conservative traditions and the modernizing world. Onal uses a style that reminds us of graphic novels, and he uses typography embeded into the illustration as a brick wall, where he also illustrates the incident that occurs in the story.
Isyan, by Selcuk Onal, 1949. Film poster Mixed Media
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(5) Atif Tuna, who worked for Tekel (a Turkish tobacco company) as a painter and a decorator, is also one of the memorable figures in the history of Turkish poster design. He designed this poster for the lottery held by Akbank, a Turkish local bank. He has used a very limited color palette, which works with his modern use of typography and his illustration style.
Akbank Ikramiye, by Atif Tuna, 1951. Screenprinting
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(6) Kesanli Ali Destani musical is one of the best known Turkish classics of all time. The play has been promoted with this poster on the left since the very first time it was performed in 1964, and the design was also used as a book cover later on. Ertel abstracted the main character’s portrait simply by eliminating the whole face from it, leaving only his hat, his mustache, his coat and a flower in his mouth. The flower was a symbol that portrayed Ali as a womanizer. Today, Kesanli Ali Destanli is also considered one of the most popular poster designs in the history of Turkish graphic design.
Kesanli Ali Destani, by Mengu Ertel, 1964. Film poster Mixed Media
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(7) Mengu Ertel was one of the poster artists who became famous after 1960. He experimented with mosaic art and used abstract drawings to create and display a minimal, simplified artistic style in poster design. In his "Istanbul Festival" poster, he illustrated the silhouette of the city all in mosaic. The composition he created is beautiful; and the color palette displays a great representation of the city.
Istanbul Festivali, by Mengu Ertel, 1972 Mixed media.
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(8)
Erkmen designed the informational posters for the Istanbul International Graphic Design Weeks. In this poster we can see a very effective treatment of typography, working well with elements of typography and illustration
Istanbul International Graphic Design Weeks, by Bulent Erkmen, 1997
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Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(9) Equal, by Bulent Erkmen 1998 Digital media
Bulent Erkmen is one of the most influential graphic designers of the 1970s, having gained a reputation worldwide. He has won many international awards and has been popular around Europe in the 1990s for his political posters, such as Equal. In this poster, he is questioning the real meaning of “equality�. He draws a red line over the meaning of the word equal in the dictionary, displaying the word equal trapped at the top left corner of the frame. 13
Baris Siniksaran barissiniksaran@gmail.com
History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
History of Turkish Poster Design List of objects to be presented at the exhibition:
(10) This is a great example of recent works done by Turkish graphic designers, from which Yucel is by far the most popular. He has designed posters for many Hollywood movies besides Kill Bill such as Chicago, Frida, The Hours, 007 James Bond, Cold Mountain, etc. The hierarchy between the visual elements, the use typography, the color palette and the composition in this poster are working so well that it is a very strong example of 21st century poster design, not only in Turkey but also in Hollywood.
Kill Bill, by Emrah Yucel, 2003 Digital Media
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History of Graphic Design Spring 2009 Final Project
Resources
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