page 34

Poster Originality

By Stanley Davis

(Supervising Artist, Railway Advertising Branch)

Develop sufficient originality and you will be locked up.

It is fear of ridicule in Man that is responsible for a world-wide educational system that is tending to destroy all traces of individuality and to create a ridiculous admiration for the super-parrots. Occasionally, it is true, an artist of Epstein's calibre dares to express his mind in paint or clay. The Public are given something they do not, nor do they even wish to, understand; they suspect him of seeking notoriety; they feel their beloved traditions are in danger; and a Press which truly reflects their thoughts and feelings hastens to their protection—vide the recent Press criticism of Epstein.

When the business man says he wants “something original,” he invariably means something conventional, “got up” to look different.

The question that concerns the artist, who knows—either by instinct or by occasional rebuffs—that if he is to earn his living with the brush he must curb his originality, is, How Far Can He Go?

The best poster from the business standpoint is the one that attracts the most favourable attention from the public. Not the poster, mark you, that is merely praised by artists and admired by a small minority of laymen who claim to know this or that artist's work. This praise and admiration is directed solely towards the technical side of the work, and little or no notice is taken of the commodity the poster is intended to advertise.

The successful poster artist owes no small measure of his success to sympathy with these facts, and when called upon to design a poster he thinks and acts as though for the time being he was, himself, the proprietor of the special commodity to be advertised. He must seriously believe that the design he does will attract and interest the majority of the public. He is careful not to be too original, for the poster must be readily understood by all, and he must introduce sufficient technique to avoid offending the minority. The result, in nine cases out of ten, evokes the praise of the client and the pronouncement that it is “just what is wanted.”

The Railway Companies in England display posters designed by some of the greatest artists of the day. These posters are, in the majority of cases, examples of perfect technique, and they attract widespread attention on account of the prominence given to the great artist's name. The exact advertising value of these posters is, however, a matter of conjecture. Their effect is mainly to encourage the public to take a livelier interest in the work of the poster artist. As this interest is stimulated the scope of the artist will be proportionately widened.

The business man knows his public, and knows further that until a different and more sympathetic attitude is adopted by the public towards Art, he must continue to attract their attention along established lines.

There is no dearth of originality amongst artists, but until such time as the public evince some desire for its fuller expression, originality will continue to remain a misunderstood, although, in the artist's mind, a very desirable quality.

(The following are some examples of the fine poster work turned out by Mr. Davis, who is as original in thought as in artistic expression. Ed.)