HOW POSTERS WORK
1930
WEBSITE
TICKETS
ADDRESS
$12 Seniors
www.cooperhewitt.org
2 East 91st Street, New York, NY
HOURS
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Closed Thanksgiving and December 25
$18 Adults
$9 Student $10 Visitors with Disabilities Members & 18 & under free Pay-What-You-Wish Tuesday 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. *Buy your tickets on-line to save $2 per tickets
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
1940
Cooper Hewitt is the nation’s only museum dedicated to historic and contemporary design, with a collection of over 210,000 design objects spanning thirty centuries. Located in the landmark Andrew Carnegie mansion and boasting a beautiful public garden, Cooper Hewitt makes design come alive with unique temporary exhibitions and installations of the permanent collection.
HOW POSTERS WORK As a medium of communication, the poster has a long history and a wide range of social functions, from selling a product to promoting a cause. Despite the rise of digital media, the print poster remains a vital and oftentimes radical form of visual communication.
1950/1960
1970/1980
HOW POSTERS WORK This is an exhibition about how appear on city
they continue to be
principles of visual
designers see. How Posters
streets, but they are a crucial medium
thinking that extend
Work shows the ways dozens
no longer a dominant for inventing and
to many forms of
of designers from around the
form of mass
sharing new visual
design, including
world have used the principles
communication. As
languages. How
branding, packaging,
of composition, perception, and
posters circulate
Posters Work uses
book covers,
storytelling to convey ideas
through both print
the medium of the
websites, and
and solicit sensations. Some
and social media,
poster to explore
motion graphics.
works focus our attention on a single message, while others send the eye on a meandering journey. Graphic designers use form, color, image, and language to seek out simplicity and complexity, flatness and depth, singular moments and stories that unfold. Some designers strive for maximum clarity, while others challenge the viewer to uncover a hidden message. How Posters Work features over 125 pieces from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection, dating from the turn of the twentieth century to the present. Why posters? Over the last century, posters have served both as utilitarian communication and as design discourse. Today, posters still
1990
Featuring rarely-seen posters from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection, How Posters Work demonstrates how some of the world’s most creative designers have employed and pushed the boundaries of two-dimensional design, harnessed the mechanics and psychology of perception, and mastered the art of storytelling to produce powerful acts of visual communication. Many of the posters on view are the work of revered American designers, such as Paul Rand, Ivan Chermayeff, and Milton Glaser. The exhibition also includes a large number of prominent contemporary designers, as well as posters created by unknown designers. The exhibition dissects the designers’ creative uses of design principles and visual expression to underscore the significance of a designer’s and the viewer’s eye to the design process.
2000
1930/40 D ra w i n g , S t u d y Fo r “ Ke e p We l l ”, 1 9 3 4 C a m p e s i n o s - Pa ra A c a b a r C o n L a E s p e c u l a c i ó n S o l o H a y U n M e d i o L a C o o p e ra t i va ( Pe a s a n t s - I n O r d e r To S t o p T h e S p e c u l a t i o n , T h e re I s O n l y O n e Wa y, T h e C o - O p e ra t i v e ) , 1 9 3 6
1970/80 Summer Picnic, 1971 G ra p h i c D e s i g n e rs O n T h e We s t C o a s t , 1 9 7 5 N o w I s T h e Ti m e Fo r A l l G o o d Wo m e n To C o m e To T h e A i d O f T h e i r C o u n t r y, 1 9 7 9 T h e B ro o k l y n C h i l d re n ’ s M u s e u m , 1 9 7 7
A C a re l e s s Wo r d , 1 9 4 2
The Stepford Wives, 1975–76
S o m e o n e Ta l ke d ! , 1 9 4 2
N o c n y Ko w b o j [ M i d n i g h t C o w b oy ] , 1 9 7 3 C h i c a g o , N a i s s a n c e D ’ u n e M é t ro p o l e [ B i r t h O f A M e t ro p o l i s ] 1 8 7 2 – 1 9 2 2 , 1 9 8 7 D z i e c ko R o s e m a r y [ R o s e m a r y ’ s B a by ] , 1 9 8 4 E n j oy A z t , 1 9 8 9
1950/60 Addo-X, 1958 B o o k C o v e r, O n M o d e r n Po e t s , 1 9 5 9
1990/00 Aids Crisis, 1990 C ra c k H o u s e W h i t e H o u s e , 1 9 9 1
S c h ü t z t D a s Ki n d ! ( Pro t e c t T h e C h i l d ! ) , 1 9 5 3
D i e L i n ke I n s M u s e u m , H o f f n u n g U n d W i d e rs t a n d
G ra m m o - G ra f i k [ R e c o r d G ra p h i c s ] , 1 9 5 7
[The Left In The Museum, Hope And Resistance],
A t o m s Fo r Pe a c e , 2 G e n e ra l D y n a m i c s , 1 9 5 5 G e n e ra l D y n a m i c s , 1 9 5 6 U c i e c z ka Ki n g Ko n g a [ Ki n g Ko n g E s c a p e s ] , 1 9 6 8 Wo z z e c k , 1 9 6 4 Ya m a g i w a I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m p e t i t i o n Fo r L i g h t i n g F i x t u re s E x h i b i t i o n , 1 9 6 8 John Lennon, 1967 S e i n O d e r N i c h t s e i n ( To B e O r N o t To B e ) , 1 9 6 4 J i m Kw e s k i n / J u g B a n d , 1 9 6 7 Capital, 1968 C h a m b e rs B ro t h e rs B a n d , N e o n R o s e # 1 2 , 1 9 6 7 J u n i o r We l l s , 1 9 6 6
Ca. 1998 Him, 1994 L i g h t / Ye a rs , 1 9 9 9 M r. C a m e l ’ s Ki d s C l u b , 1 9 9 0 N i e u s t a j a c e Wa ka c j e [ Pe r m a n e n t Va c a t i o n ] , 1991 N u d e N u d e To t a l l y N u d e , 1 9 9 6 O p e n H o u s e A t A r t C e n t e r, 1 9 9 3 Pa ra d i s o 1 9 9 6 , 1 9 9 6 Wa c I s Wa t c h i n g , 1 9 9 2 Wa l l s O f T h e C i t y, 1 9 9 2 F ra n k A m m e r l a a n A n d M i c h a e l A g a c k i , 2 0 0 8
The Association, 1966 Te x t i l e s & O b j e c t s , 1 9 6 1
Designed by Haley Felton