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Portraits have been used in posters from the very beginning of this form of communication support. This book takes a look at the messages communicated by using portraits in posters and gives a good overview of this kind of posters throughout history.

The introductory text is an interesting analysis of the various trends that occurred in poster design from the 19th century. The author looks at the choices of characters portrayed, the use of colour or the role of these posters in urban culture, among other things.

The chore of the book, the showcase of posters, is a set of posters with explanations for each artwork. This is not only interesting for the graphic design history information it gives, but also for the inspiration given as pages are turned. The topics of the posters vary from concert adverts, war propaganda, sport events,…

The book is distributed by the University of Washington press, it can be bought on Amazon.

About the Author

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Mirko Humbert

Mirko Humbert is the editor-in-chief and main author of Designer Daily and Typography Daily. He is also a graphic designer and the founder of WP Expert.