Posters: A Global History

(Paperback)

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Posters are ubiquitous. They hang on officewalls, bedroom doors and bus shelters. Butwhat relevance do they have today in our ageof image saturation, of prolific social mediaand electronic devicesIn Posters: A Global History ElizabethE. Guffey tells the story of this ephemeral artform, from its birth in the nineteenth centuryto its place in contemporary culture.In Posters: A Global History Elizabeth Guffey tells the story of thisephemeral art form, from its birth in the nineteenth century to its place incontemporary culture. She argues that even among today's burgeoningdigital media, few forms of graphic design can rival posters for their tangibilityand sheer spatial presence.

Reviews

Guffeys goal is to tell the story of posters as things physical, commodifiable, and transportable objects that materialize the increasingly immaterial nature of visual communication. She traces how posters have moved through the life of the world on their ephemeral paper substrates . . . She grapples admirably with the ambition of her study, uses smart examples, draws on a diverse bibliography, takes her time when the material demands it, and convinces her readers that examining the public lives of posters broadens and enriches our understanding of the medium. * Art in Print *
Elizabeth E. Guffey has captured the magnificent history of the printed art form in Posters: A Global History. Unlike other historical books about posters Guffey also offers an anthropological take. Posters are not just visual artworks but physical objects in a social world . . . Its a global snapshot of how this incredible medium has been used for good and bad. Few forms of graphic design can rival posters for their tangibility and sheer spatial presence and Guffey reveals how artists themselves have ripped down, re-made, and re-defined posters into the artworks theyre sometimes known as today. An intriguing read that will make you look twice at posters. * Full Scream *
This exciting new study of the social life of posters demonstrates the many uses to which they have been put and shows that the ever-popular medium, far from being defunct, continues to be a vital form of communication and expression. Elizabeth Guffeys colourfully written account also benefits from numerous well chosen pictures of posters seen in everyday settings alongside the viewers who admired them, took their cues from them and consumed them as informal art. * Rick Poynor, founder of Eye magazine and co-founder of Design Observer *
Elizabeth Guffey rescues the poster from its well-meaning but largely fetishized history by connoisseurs, curators, and collectors and compellingly chronicles the past, present, and future lives of this staple of communication. Taking an expansive view of the subject, Guffey reaches far and wide and across the ages for her examples and provides a much-needed cultural context to the diverse roles posters perform in a society whether connecting communities, building nationalism, inciting consumption, or raising awareness. Posters: A Global History is an important addition to design history and a timely reminder of the power of print in the age of the Internet. * Andrew Blauvelt, Senior Curator, Architecture and Design, Walker Art Center *
This exciting new study of the social life of posters demonstrates the many uses to which they have been put and shows that the ever-popular medium, far from being defunct, continues to be a vital form of communication and expression. Elizabeth Guffeys colourfully written account also benefits from numerous well chosen pictures of posters seen in everyday settings alongside the viewers who admired them, took their cues from them and consumed them as informal art. * Rick Poynor, founder of Eye magazine and co-founder of Design Observer *

Author Bio

Elizabeth E. Guffey is Professor of Art and Design History at the State University of New York, Purchase, and founding editor of academic journal Design and Culture. She is the author of Drawing an Elusive Line: The Art and Career of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (2001) and Retro: The Culture of Revival (Reaktion, 2006). She is also vice-president of the Design Studies Forum.