How Posters Work | Exhibitions | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

This exhibition was on display from April 17, 2015 to January 18, 2016.

There were 92 objects in this exhibition but right now we can only show you 88 of them. Some objects may not be viewable because they were on loan; this might be due to issues involving image rights or simply because there is no digitized image for the objects.

This exhibition has been divided in to the following sections:

See all the exhibitions.

View and print exhibition labels.

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, Nude Nude Totally Nude, 1996
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Pentagram.
1997-99-3

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, L'Initiation, 1970
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.
There are 2 images of this object.

Art exhibition poster with pattern of blue (4) and white (5) vertical stripes. On verso, in French and Flemish, gallery name, address, and variations of exhibition information printed four times; three of these are crossed out with "X."
Verso: Four rectangular text boxes with first two on left side crossed out with "Xs" and last two on right side with text. Inbetween, blank space of equal width.Recto: Four blue vertical stripes and five white stripes of equal width alternating colors across poster.
Verso: Eight rectangular boxes for text with four on top half and four on bottom half. First six boxes have printed "Xs" through the text. On far right in the remaining two boxes have information about the exhibition.

Poster, Exhibition Poster, 1973
offset lithograph.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment and Smithsonian....
1999-45-9

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster features an abstract image of a woman in blue and yellow on a blue and green spiraled ground. In upper margin, black text: BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS IN SAN FRANCISCO; Below, in wavy form, yellow text: JIM KWESKIN JUG BAND / PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY / THE SPARROW / LIGHTS BY HEADLIGHTS / AT THE FILLMORE / JUNE 2-3 [more info below].

Poster, Jim Kweskin / Jug Band, 1967
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.

Poster featuring black text on a white ground; black and white photographs of architecture; divided into registers by black horizontal bands. Orange title across top: ARCHITECTURE IN JAPAN; Japanese characters in lower section.

Poster, Architecture in Japan, 1984
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
2009-42-9

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster of half yellow and half blue ground. Top half, in yellow, depicts photograph of a woman (singer, Gracie Fields) leaning over half of poster, drinking tea and winking one eye. Next to her head, text in blue and red: TEA. Lower section, text in blue and red on yellow rectangle: DRIVES AWAY / [in white text] THE DROOPS / [in yellow] SAYS MR T.POTT. Drawing of a teapot with arms, legs, and a top hat.

Poster, Tea Drives Away the Droops, 1936
blue, yellow and red inks, lithograph on paper, lined, mounted on muslin.
Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
1963-39-84

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Poster, March for Peace and Justice, 1982
lithograph on paper.
Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
1993-53-84

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Black stencil; skull with White House as mouth, stars as eyes

Poster, Crack House White House, 1991
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 advertising IAUS exhibition and lecture tour, March 24 to May 19, 1980. Text and images integrated throughout, divided by heavy horizontal black bands. Across the top in red text: A NEW WAVE OF AUSTRIAN ARCHITECTURE. Information on events, participating institutions, exhibiting architects, and program sponsor, distributed throughout. Center, a band containing to architectural renderings (at left) and two photographs of buildings (at right). A photograph of a large red bowler hat resting on wooden slats (?) occupies lower half of design. Verso: IAUS address; postage.

Poster, A New Wave of Austrian Architecture, 1980
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.

Full-page color illustration of giant tomato sitting in green armchair in room with floral rug in foreground, decorative wallcovering and window in background. Beneath image is text listing various musical groups.

Poster, Tomato: Something Unusual Is Going on Here, 1978
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Milton Glaser.
1979-42-8

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

A group of three children in the center of a grassy lawn with a large shadow of a swastika looming over them. One of the boy stands while holding a toy plane while another in a paper hat holds up an American flag. A girl sits in front of them, holding a doll. In the lower margin is the text, "Don't Let That Shadow Touch Them / Buy WAR BONDS."

Poster, Don't Let That Shadow Touch Them, 1942
lithograph on paper.
Gift of Louise Clémencon.
1949-108-8

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

A clenched fist bursting through blood with word "Capital" showing through the splatter.

Poster, Capital, 1968
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.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster depicts a globe from the top on a dark gray ground, surmounted by a light bulb; lower margin: GENERAL DYNAMICS.

Poster, Atoms for Peace, General Dynamics, 1955
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.
There are 3 images of this object.

Poster depicting silhouette of partial man, against green and yellow, containing colorful text and symbols on black ground. Above in blue: THE BIGGEST VISUAL POWER SHOW 2006.

Poster, Next Nature, 2006
digital print on wove paper.
Gift of Mieke Gerritzen.
2009-39-8

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Art exhibition poster with pattern of red (4) and white (5) vertical stripes. On verso, in French and Flemish, gallery name, address, and variations of exhibition information printed four times; two of these are crossed out with "X."
Verso: Four rectangular text boxes with first two on left side crossed out with "Xs" and last two on right side with text. Inbetween, blank space of equal width.

Poster, Exhibition Poster, 1971
offset lithograph.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment and Smithsonian....
1999-45-8

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

On white background, a white egg painted with black strokes to indicate hair, eyes, and mustache of Adolf Hitler. The lower jaw is "cracked" off and replaced with dangling human legs in red and blue. Followed by inscription at bottom center: "Sein Oder Nicht Sein / Lustspiel einer Tragodie Regie Ernst Lubitsch / (To Be or Not to Be / (Comedy a tragedy Directed by Ernst Lubitsch)) Pradikat besonders wertvoll Mit / Jack Benny Carole Lombard Felix Bressart Robert Stack / Sig Ruman u.v.a. Eine Ernst Lubitsch Produktion der / Romaine Film Verleih: Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner".

Poster, Sein oder Nichtsein (To Be or Not to Be), 1964
offset lithograph on wove paper.
Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
2010-21-78

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Square-cropped views of five black Playboy Bunny heads, rotated at different angles. Flyer title (Playboy Architecture 1953-1979) is printed in pink at top. Beneath the bunnies, columns of text are printed in small black type. Poster advertises exhibition held at NAiM / Bureau Europa.

Flyer, Playboy Architecture 1953-1979 (Invitation), 2012
offset print on folded paper.
Gift of Experimental Jetset.
2015-2-7

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster divided into three registers: blue at top, white at center and black and orange at bottom. At right, a black and white photograph of a woman (Anita Ekberg), represented full length, wearing shorts and a top streches her arm across the blue section of the poster at top. She is balanced on her toes, with her knees bent and carrys a large ball behind her. At lower left the title is repeated three times, printed in white on a black square: addo-x / addo-x / addo-x; in white on orange rectangle: tops in precision engineered adding machines and calculators. The Ben-Day dots of the graphic process are prominently visible on the figure.

Poster, addo-x, 1958
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Anonymous Donor.
1994-109-7

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 4 images of this object.

Poster featuring red and black text on a white ground; divided into registers by black horizontal bands, and cityscape in lower section printed in red.

Poster, Architectural Education: Alternatives, 1982
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
2009-42-7

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

On a white ground, reminiscent of a cross-stitch work with flowers. In orange: OFFICE / SWEET / OFFICE; below in magenta, green, and orange: A through Z.

Poster, Office Sweet Office, 1979
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Lois Ehlert.
1991-69-38

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Large orange 3D letters across yellow background; each letter looks to be stepped in different configurations. Each letter is also the first initial of the names of the featured artists that are listed throughout the poster in dark brown; both in English and Japanese.

Poster, Graphic Designers on the West Coast, 1975
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Takenobu Igarashi.
1981-69-1

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

On a ground of red and magenta with a tear through the center featuring black typed text in upward motion: Now is the time for all good women / to come to the aid of their country.

Poster, Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their...
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Lois Ehlert.
1991-69-34

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, The Balcony, 1985
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Art Chantry.
1995-69-45

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Poster depicts Earth with a large black handset against it. In blue ink: CONTACT / WITH THE WORLD / USE THE / TELEPHONE landscape of hills along the coast with a setting sun, mountains in the background, all in black and yellow. Below in yellow outline: GO GREAT / WESTERN / TO CORNWALL.

Poster, Contact With the World/Use the Telephone, 1934
lithograph on paper, lined.
Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
1963-39-62

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Poster reads, "In Between He Jianping 20.9 - 8.11 NLB Galerija Avla Lubljana."
There is a long caligraphic line between the first and the second letters of each word.

Poster, In Between He Jianping, 2012
screenprint on paper.
Gift of Jianping He.
2014-23-6

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Poster featuring red and black text on a white ground; black and white photographs; divided into registers by black horizontal bands.

Poster, The IAUS Advanced Workshop, 1979–80
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
2009-42-6

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

The right half of an archival 1913 photograph of Chicago by J.W. Taylor, from the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago’s Burnham Library, is tipped to the left to suggest the receding streets of the city. In a contrasting movement, the word "Chicago," in the Musee d'Orsay's official Waldbaum font and aligned with the architecture, begins in the distance and looms forward wrapping around the corner of the skyscraper-filled street, ending with a large “O,” perhaps alluding to the “O” of Orsay.

Poster, Chicago, Naissance d’une métropole [Birth of a metropolis]...
screenprint on paper.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
2015-6-1

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Poster features a black and white photograph of several people in a room, standing around. Allover text; overlapping photos of flowers in yellow.

Poster, Open House at Art Center, 1993
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Rebeca Mendez.
1996-59-3

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Copy of Marlboro ad with photo of George H. W. Bush and warning. For Act Up. Background in red, with white text: AIDS Crisis. Text in black below: WARNING: White Bush spends billions playing cowboy, 37 million Americans / have no health insurance. One American dies of AIDS every eight minutes.

Poster, AIDS Crisis, 1990
lithograph on paper.
Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
1993-53-112

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Two-headed skeleton in black with Heroin and Real Estate printed on heads

Poster, Two-Headed Monster Destroys Community, 1983
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 3 images of this object.

Abstracted black and white image of a man with mouth open. Above, in white: READY FOR WAR.

Poster, Ready for War, 1982
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.

Black and white block letters: NO / WAR.

Poster, No War, ca. 1980
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, Enjoy AZT, 1989
screenprint on paper.
Gift of Steven Heller and Karrie Jacobs.
1993-53-103

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

A depiction of the head and shoulders of musician John Lennon on vibrant yellow ground. The left side of image and hair saturated in bright orange-red; the right side of image in deep purple. The features are visible as in a photographic negative with negative areas highlighted in bright white. Superimposed on the face, a pair of round glasses with lenses formed by bright orange, green, and white spirals.

Poster, John Lennon, 1967
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Various Donors.
1981-29-511

This object was made by Look Magazine.
This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

On yellow ground, photo in red of Che Guevara, with black spray painted star over eye of Che and text: DIE / LINKE INS / MUSEUM.

Poster, Die Linke ins Museum, Hoffnung und Widerstand [The Left in the...
screenprint, stencil and black spray paint on wove paper.
Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
2010-21-50

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.