The poster speaks a universal language. It is an important part of contemporary man’s history of visual communication, is universally comprehensible, and communicates a message in a specific form. Posters are not just vertical and horizontal sheets of paper hung on walls; they are wise reflections of human life at any given period.
They are brilliant yet influential, at the very least, for poster designers and their enthusiasts. The poster of the future will keep up with technological progress, although it may appear in the form of animation, interaction, and multiple layers. Why not?
“Posters make sense for urban areas where people walk and bike, but as most cities in the US are built for the car, the traditional poster is pretty much dead. If a poster is an inexpensive way to get the word out, the closest replacement right now is the e-mail attachment. What it loses in presence and overall sexiness, it makes up for in affordability and ubiquity.”
– Stefan Sagmeister, New York
“Despite the form posters may take, designers will always govern their creation. The contemporary poster should express a clear message to the public and be aesthetically pleasing. The content should satisfy the client while being socially responsible.”
– Jianping He, Berlin
Posters never die.
“The most interesting contemporary posters of the 20th and 21st century were illegally published by non-designers in the streets “during the time of cholera.” These politically clandestine posters were never considered for any international design competition — it is fortunate they were never deemed visual pollution. I hope they will be recognized as successful pieces of design in the future. The best authentic “poster” I’ve ever seen was a handwritten message on the wall of a house in Germany after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986. The simple message of this graffiti was: “Oh Gott es regnet!” (“Oh my God, it’s raining!”)”
– Uwe Loesch, Dusseldorf
“No matter the time period, the poster is always designed for the moment, and always will be. Like a bee or a butterfly, it has the life span of a season (to use Muhammad Ali’s words). All risks can be taken, everything can be questioned; there is no failure.
– Manuel Kreps, Zürich
“We are doing contemporary posters every day at m23.de.
In the future, posters will become a new form of fine art. Classical media like books and posters develop in a kind of in-between media — a chimera between information carrier and collector’s item; a hybrid between service provider and cultural event. The poster will not be the central communication media, but more of an add-on which transfers a new kind of sense. The poster itself will be the message. It’s no longer a carrier of culture — it is culture itself.”
– Fons Hickmann, Berlin
“I hope it will be the same as it ever was. A piece of beautiful paper, printed large. But it might also do more if the technology allows. It might move and emit sound. That’s what happens in Sci-Fi novels. By 2200, paper will be a luxury. I see posters as being paper-thin video experiences.”
– Steven Heller, New York
“A poster today may be a sort of mirror of contemporary reality. New media gives us news in real time. Posters offer a different way to leak information with a personal view and singular aesthetic.
Printed posters in the future will be more and more unusual, and might be immaterial, using numerical technology. Today they are still one of the best mediums to summarize thought and give a specific, emotional vision.”
– Frédéric Teschner, Paris
“The rapid progress of digital technology has diffused the medium and narrowed the opportunity for outstanding posters to come into existence. This is why some may say that “the poster dead.” However, I would say the works that have the power to push back this situation with wisdom and beautiful visual language will be the contemporary posters of the 21st century.
The continual rapid digitalization seems to be taking away the function from posters as a media, but its unique visual language symbolizing events, minds or visions in a simple style will not fade away.
Perhaps the form of posters may change, but the excellent expression itself, unique to poster works, will be stable. In other words, even if the form of the poster becomes extinct, its spirit will continue to live.”
– Shin Matsunaga, Tokyo
“The essential requirement of the poster remains the same: to stand out as an exceptional idea or design and encourage one to act.
The poster is a medium for the broad public; the message needs to be communicated in a way that can be understood by a target group. The conditions remain the same (whether e-board or print). Every good poster is a small artistic innovation.
– Stephan Bundi, Boll (Switzerland)
“There are thousands of designers on the planet who love making posters and hundreds of millions of people, I am sure, who love looking at them. The poster offers an invitation to start a conversation. Its free and independent expression intrigues or repels, turning each and every one of us into a supporter or a rival to its cause, a fan or a detractor of its form. As the author, the designer is addressing all humanity!
If future society is democratic, the existence of the poster is guaranteed. Today, authentic posters have to fight for their lives, finding refuge in museums, theaters, festivals and biennales. Tomorrow, the art of the poster “in the open air” will develop worldwide only at the rate of the development of human rights. It will be slow, chaotic and probably...never finished.
We have no choice. We must go on!”
– Pierre Bernard, Paris
“As for the future of the poster, time and space dictate visual communication’s direction. Graphic design is definitely evolving with time and culture. In pre-historic times people used fire and earth’s pigments. During the Bronze Period they had updated tools. Paper and printing were the newer technologies in the Middle Ages. Technology is evolving, so is communication art. In our current situation, the Internet changes the look of printed communication. The Internet changes the way we look for information, and the way we act. The new medium affects the way of communication. Perhaps the Internet will take the place of the wall or street for “posters” in the near future, and conventional poster may fall out of favor. However, I believe the “poster” will survive no matter how the media changes. Since the core of poster design—exploring the most appropriate and effective way to convey certain information—is still primary to visual communication design.”
– Fang Chen
Posters are still a good method of communicating or advertising a message, event or product in printed form. However, there are several electronic media which may transmit these same messages. The printed form will always exist but be complemented with screen animation.
– Alejandro Magallanes, Mexico City