Poetics of the Poster

The unique collaborative relationship between text and image has allowed the once-humble poster to evolve distinctive strategies of persuasion that have transformed modern advertising. Closely related to contemporary developments in the visual arts—in particular Futurism and Art Deco—these advances also reflect the contemporary confluence between art and graphic design. Focusing on the innovative visual equivalents of conventional textual ways of communicating meaning—metaphor, metonymy, and rebus—Poetics of the Poster looks at how modern-day signage—from airline logos to tourism advertisements to boxing match announcements—wields maximum persuasive power over viewers.