Post your Poster

In light that today, November 6, 2012, is election day here in the United States, I saw it fitting to seek out campaign posters of the early 20th century.

The States were somewhat late to game when it came to the European modernists ideas of design. Meggs states, "a visit to America in 1923 excited [Lucian] Bernhard, and he returned to live in New York. His [Plakatstil] work was far too modern to gain acceptance in America." This is nearly two decades after the modern movements in art and design had already begun. But in some of the poster work you can still see some of trickling in of modern design.

In Meggs, we see one example of the European poster design influence in James Montgomery Flagg's military recruiting poster (1917) where it is a clear copy of Alfred Leete's recruiting poster (1915). But, these would not be considered examples of modern designs they do, exhibit some qualities such as simplified designs using a short slogan with a single image.

Another poster that follows the simplified design sense of early 20th century Europe is this poster for William H. Taft's campaign versus William J. Bryan in the 1908 presidential election. The poster is designed by John de Yongh (1856-1917) who shows similar style to plakatstil with the large flat background and flat color for the name bill.

This Socialist Party campaign poster for the 1904 election still shows exhibits design sense left over from the Victorian print.

A 1912 election poster for Theodore Roosevelt and Johnson uses a photo representation instead of an illustration.

Woodrow Wilson's America First posters which have the heroic imagery.

The fact is, it is very difficult to find any U.S. made campaign posters that truly exhibit a plakatstil, Sach plakat, or any modernist style of poster design... Then again.