PLAKATSTIL
El Paso Museum of Art January 18 – May 2, 2014
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lakatstil, or “poster style� was an art movement originating in Germany in the early 1900s. It modernized poster design and commercial advertising. The product is reduced to its symbol, the poster contains a minimum of information and the poster is simplistic since it does not carry any ornaments or figurines. Lucian Bernhard, Ludwig Hohlwein, and Hans Rudi Erdt were the major Plakatstil artists and their work exemplify the simplicity of motifs and forms in this art movement.
Lucian Bernhard, Priester, 1906.
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LUCIAN BERNHARD Lucian Bernhard was a German artist who founded
minimalist design of two matches in bright colors
the Plakatstil movement. He was the first artist to
against a dark background with an innovative typeface
move away from decorative trends and instead focus
would be the start of his famous career. In 1911, Bern-
on reducing communication down to its essential ele-
hard reduced the trademark of Manoli cigars to a let-
ments. Bernhard’s simple posters pared design down
ter inside a circle printed in a second color. In 1912, he
to a language of shapes and signs. Lucian Bernhard’s
worked for Stiller shoes where he created a green back-
Plakatstil style was first recognized in 1905 when he
ground, dark letterforms, and a black shoe. He not only
won a competition sponsored by the Priester Match
designed posters and typefaces, he also designed tex-
Company, designing a poster for their matches. His
tiles, trademarks, and packaging for many companies.
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Lucian Bernhard, Novelta Cigaretten, 1912.
Lucian Bernhard, Manoli, 1910.
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Lucian Bernhard, Stiller, 1912.
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LUDWIG HOHLWEIN
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Ludwig Hohlwein, Yellowstone-Park, 1910.
Even though Bernhard was the originator of Plakat-
gesture, and movement. Most of the posters he designed
stil, the work of Ludwig Hohlwein also played an
were photographic adaptations of images with a strong
important role in German advertising of this time.
message and a prominent, thoughtful sense of graphic
Hohlwein began a career in poster design in 1906. In-
principles. He would decorate his images by applying
spired by the Beggarstaffs, some of his work evokes
different textures and patterns and also by contrasting dif-
their authentic style, especially the use of shading,
ferent tones, bright colors and architectural structures.
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Ludwig Hohlwein, fund-raising poster, 1914.
H is work spanned four decades and included the Nazi period and World War II. Hohlwein was devoted almost exclusively to posters for supporting disabled veterans and prisoners of war in foreign fields. In May of 1918, he made a number of posters for the Ludendorff- Spende Donation Fund. One such poster, with its neutral colors, depicts a wounded soldier. It represents compassion, while a large red cross in the background conveys a message of power and support for the nurse volunteers.
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HANS RUDI ERDT With a style similar to the minimalism of Bernhard, Hans Rudi Erdt moved to Berlin in 1905 to try his luck as a poster designer. It was there that his successful career began. His most famous works were posters for cigarettes, cars, champagne, and liquors. Even though his commercial posters are remarkable, such as one for Opel automobiles, the U-Boote Heraus!, and the Never Fail, he also worked for the German government and for the Reich Film Committee creating war movie posters. A strong central argument, simplicity, use of basic colors, and bold typography gave his work a special touch that transcended Plakatstil.
Left: Hans Rudi Erdt, Poster for Never Fail Safes, 1911. Top: Hans Rudi Erdt, U-Boote Heraus!, 1916. Bottom: Hans Rudi Erdt, poster for Opel automobiles, 1911.
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lakatstil was an art movement
Studios uses an image of a soldier going to the war.
that transformed graphic design
The shades, contrast of colors in the image against a
by showing how to establish an ide
dark background are an evidence of Plakatstil influ-
tity between product and brand. It pursued the
ence. The name of the band is presented in a big bold
association between the concept of an object and
typeface. Similarly, Guided by Voices was inspired
its icon, connecting the poster uniquely with the
by Plakatstil. The poster is reduced solely to the im-
brand. The sobriety and simplicity of the work of
age and the name of the “product�. Another example
Bernhard, Hohlwein and Erdt matched perfectly
would be the AIGA Golf Tournament Poster by Rich-
with a new kind of visual propaganda, to be pri-
ter 7. Minimum information, big bold typefaces, and a
marily direct and simple. Nowadays, Plakatstil is
contrast between a light brown and white can be ap-
still an influence for graphic designers. A poster
preciated in this poster. Plakatstil revolutionized the
for a rock band Mission of Burma by Methane
way of poster design into new paradigms of simplicity.
Top Right: Methane Studios, Mission of Burma poster, 2003. Top Left: Methane Studios, Guided by Voices poster, 2003. Bottom: Richter 7, Poster for AIGA golf tournament, 2003.
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