How Posters Work
This exhibition was on display from April 17, 2015 to January 18, 2016.
Some objects in this exhibition may not be viewable on the website due to copyright or other usage restrictions, or because there is no digitized image for the object.
This exhibition has been divided in to the following sections:
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This is an exhibition about how designers see. How Posters Work shows the ways dozens of designers from around the world have used the principles of composition, perception, and storytelling to convey ideas and solicit sensations. Some 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 appear on city streets, but they are no longer a dominant form of mass communication. As posters circulate through both print and social media, they continue to be a crucial medium for inventing and sharing new visual languages. How Posters Work uses the medium of the poster to explore principles of visual thinking that extend to many forms of design, including branding, packaging, book covers, websites, and motion graphics.
- Poster, Don't Let That Shadow Touch Them
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Louise Clémencon.
- 1949-108-8
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Libertad de Cultos (Freedom of Worship)
- offset lithograph on wove paper.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-129
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Drawing, Study for "Keep Well"
- airbrush and white and blue gouache on blue paper.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-960
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, The Association
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
- 1979-34-25
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Junior Wells
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
- 1979-34-37
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Friend? Or Foe?
- screenprint on metallic coated paper.
- Gift of Various Donors.
- 1981-29-153
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, John Lennon
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Various Donors.
- 1981-29-511
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, A New Wave of Austrian Architecture
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Massimo Vignelli.
- 1991-69-83
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 4 images of this object.
- Poster, Ready for War
- screenprint on white paper.
- Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
- 1993-53-27
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Poster, No War
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
- 1993-53-39
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 3 images of this object.
![Poster, 1960/61 Stadttheater Basel [Poster for the 1960-61 Season of the City Theater, Basel]](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/357790_df97639d74565ca1_n.jpg "Poster, 1960/61 Stadttheater Basel [Poster for the 1960-61 Season of the City Theater, Basel]")
- Poster, 1960/61 Stadttheater Basel [Poster for the 1960-61 Season of the City...
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Ken Friedman.
- 1997-19-148
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, El agua en malas condiciones produce mas bajas que la metralla...
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of William P. Mangold.
- 1997-21-15
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Campesinos: Para Acabar con la Especulación Solo Hay un Medio la...
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of William P. Mangold.
- 1997-21-21
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Nude Nude Totally Nude
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Pentagram.
- 1997-99-3
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Schützt das Kind! (Protect the Child!)
- offset lithograph on wove paper, lined.
- Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
- 1999-46-1
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Adler Typewriter
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of the Eric Kellenberger Collection, Switzerland and museum purchase....
- 2005-12-2
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Chambers Brothers Band, Neon Rose #12
- lithograph on wove paper.
- Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
- 2009-12-23
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Next Nature
- digital print on paper.
- Gift of Mieke Gerritzen.
- 2009-39-8
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Poster, L'Initiation
- offset lithograph on wove paper.
- Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
- 2010-21-97
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
![Poster, Nocny Kowboj [Midnight Cowboy]](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/38553_4b1cc59411f2d6ab_n.jpg "Poster, Nocny Kowboj [Midnight Cowboy]")
- Poster, Nocny Kowboj [Midnight Cowboy]
- offset lithograph on wove paper.
- Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
- 2010-21-103
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Him
- screenprint on paper.
- Gift of Paula Scher.
- 2013-25-1
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Atoms for Peace, General Dynamics
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte in memory of Bill Moggridge.
- 2013-42-8
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Atoms for Peace, General Dynamics
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte in memory of Bill Moggridge.
- 2013-42-11
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Capital
- screenprint on paper.
- Museum purchase from the Members' Acquisitions Fund of Cooper Hewitt....
- 2017-8-1
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Crack House White House
- spray paint on tracing paper.
- Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
- 1993-53-83
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Two-Headed Monster Destroys Community
- screenprint on white paper.
- Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
- 1993-53-117
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
![Poster, NR.4-Typographic Process, Typo-Zeichen [Typographic Signs], from the School of Design, Basel](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/103361_abcaa42b3343209d_n.jpg "Poster, NR.4-Typographic Process, Typo-Zeichen [Typographic Signs], from the School of Design, Basel")
- Poster, NR.4-Typographic Process, Typo-Zeichen [Typographic Signs], from the...
- offset lithograph on newsprint.
- Gift of Ken Friedman.
- 1997-19-140
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Jim Kweskin / Jug Band
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
- 1979-34-9
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Book Cover, On Modern Poets
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Tamar Cohen and Dave Slatoff.
- 1993-31-22
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Someone Talked!
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Louise Clémencon.
- 1949-108-10
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Don't Let That Shadow Touch Them
- lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Louise Clémencon.
- 1949-108-8
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Contact with the World, Use the Telephone
- lithograph.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-62
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
![A lithograph on paper poster for Empire Tea Market Expansion Board in 1936. The poster is divided into two colored gounds, the top yellow and the bottom blue. In the top, in the center right, is a black and white photograph of a person with short wavy hair wearing a checked collared shirt or dress, possibly the singer Gracie Fields, drinking tea with the right hand and holding a saucer with the left hand, whilst winking the right eye. To the left of the figure, capitalised text in blue and red reads [TEA]. Below to our left, in the blue background section, capitalised text in blue and red superimposed on a diagonally placed yellow rectangle reads [DRIVES AWAY] . Directly under that, in white capitalised text: [THE DROOPS] is printed. In the bottom right is a white circle containing a drawing of a white teapot outlined in blue, with arms suggested by the spout and handle, legs underneath with blue shoes and holding a top hat in the hand formed by the spout arm. Underneath the teapot capitalised text in yellow reads [SAYS MR. T. POTT]. The poster designer, E. McKnigtht Kauffer, signed the work in white ink under the left arm of the figure [E McKnight Kauffer 36].](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/64300_6b921e30d4fe1b14_n.jpg "Poster, Tea Drives Away the Droops, 1936")
- Poster, Tea Drives Away the Droops, 1936
- lithograph on paper, lined.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-84
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- Poster, Junior Wells
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
- 1979-34-37
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Jim Kweskin / Jug Band
- offset lithograph on white wove paper.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
- 1979-34-9
- This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
