Modern British Posters: Art, Design & Communication

Description

Modern British Posters explores the interaction between modern art, graphic design and the utopian vision of Britain in the twentieth century, as the modern poster found a way of communicating beyond the established rhetoric of advertising and sales. Modern British Posters discusses the cultural significance of the poster as mass communication, the development of printing through a large collection of posters. The posters cover topics as broad as transport, new towns, art, architecture, the seaside and popular culture. The posters in this book demonstrate the graphic language emerging in Britain during this time, as commercial art was transformed into graphic design. The book is drawn entirely from the prestigious graphic collection of Paul and Karen Rennie, with posters from artists including Paul Nash, Edward Bawden, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Abram Games, Peter Max and Tom Eckersley amongst others. Modern British Posters also includes graphic objects and ephemera, such as badges, books and magazines, contextualising the cultural significance of the modern poster in Britain. Review: she loved it. Arrived in mint condition - Gave as a gift to a Graphic Designer friend: she loved it. Arrived in mint condition. Review: Really Nice Book, Let down slightly by . . . . - . . . . the potentially misleading title, and the curiously flat choice of image for the front cover. In the intro, Paul Rennie makes it clear that 'Modern British', in the context of the title, alludes to 'mid-century' British painting, the book's scope spanning 1915 to 1970. That being the case, I think a suitable subtitle for the book would have been appropriate, otherwise it would be fair to assume the book covers the period from around 1950 to 2000 (that's my definition of 'Modern'). The cover image, by Kenneth Rowntree, is an odd choice, given that many of the posters within are much more startling, and beautifully reproduced it must be said. Another slight disappointment is the absence of an index. Let's be clear though, this is a really nice book, entirely illustrated from the author's own collection and accompanied by a scholarly text.