A Revolutionary Failure
The great, but short-lived age of pictorial posters began in the 1890s. William Nicholson and James Pryde were brother-in-laws were considered to be the two leading figures in the development of Modern British art. Establishing an avant-garde artistic partnership, they called themselves the ‘Beggarstaff Brothers’. Their innovative style seemingly revolutionized poster design—but sadly, the brothers were way ahead of their time. Despite their execution of simplistic, bold, and seemingly eye-catching coloured posters with the use of negative space, they just didn’t gain enough traction or public appeal.
However, their efforts weren’t entirely in vain. They were able to create new image-making techniques that revolved around using novel techniques, such as collating cutout paper shapes to stenciling flat colour to sheets of brown wrapping paper. This technique also aided in their style of simplicity, as they relied on outline and silhouettes to create and differentiate forms. The premise behind this technique also reflected on their idea that posters should be effective even at a glimpse.
Another graphic designer who had a similar style was Hand Rudi Erdt, who was also a German lithographer and commercial artist. While he also had his fair share of flat minimalist posters, he also had a variety of posters that also used perspective. His advertisement for the G.R.A is an instance where a full scene is depicted where the composition has a definitive sense of flow.
Poster Precursors and their Influence
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Minimalism nowadays is still a popular trend and has been a staple of poster design for decades. Some of the most memorable posters have been ones that use minimal design, such as The Shining and Vertigo which were both designed by Saul Bass. His Vertigo poster shares similarities with Hand Rudi Erdts G.R.A poster as well, mainly regarding the use of type and their condensed leading and kerning. It really is a shame that this kind of design was brushed over in its early days, but it’s nice to see its rise in popularity and influence on famous and innovative designers such as Saul Bass.
Works Cited
“The Beggarstaffs.” GD 203, https://go.distance.ncsu.edu/gd203/?p=50860.
“Beggarstaffs: William Nicholson & James Pryde.” University of Cambridge, 9 May 2019, https://www.cam.ac.uk/beggarstaffs.
“Hans Rudi Erdt.” Artvee, https://artvee.com/artist/hans-rudi-erdt/.
“Keep It Simple! – Minimalistic Poster Inspirations ” SAXOPRINT Blog UK.” SAXOPRINT Blog UK, 13 Apr. 2015, https://www.saxoprint.co.uk/blog/minimalistic-poster.
Kondrak, Greg, and Greg Kondrak (16 Articles Published) Hailing from London (Ontario). “5 Movie Poster Trends That Need to Stop (& 5 We Need More of).” ScreenRant, 8 May 2020, https://screenrant.com/movie-poster-trends-stop-more/.