On December 10, 2009, the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an exhibition of 100 posters opened in 24 cities around the world. The organizer of this network of exhibitions is a group called “Poster 4 Tomorrow,” who can boast partnerships with Reporters Sans Frontiers, Amnesty International Italy, UNESCO, Council of Europe, and others. The juried competition to create the 100-poster collection drew 1,834 entries from dozens of countries. All 100 posters are available for high res download and free distribution at the poster4tomorrow website.
Selected images from December 10 openings in (from top to bottom): Milan, Paris, Seville, Chonan, La Paz, Derry, Los Angeles, and Montreal
Poster by Lance Rutter, © 2009, Legendre+Rutter
Ask us what value design adds to anything, and we will ask in return… what value does poetry add to language? If you still require an answer, then you have not read enough poetry.
It started as one poster, based on one sketch done in my kitchen, from an idea that occurred to me while helping my 5 year-old make a Mardi Gras mask for school. What better metaphor for a seductively beautiful—but socially incompatible—relationship than a gorgeous, fat, pretentious, pink cat luring a little birdie with her feathered party mask? It’s so Baroque and so aggressively immediate at the same time. I tried to follow the rule that posters should be made quickly. While the drawing took just 5 minutes with my Pentel brush pen, the finished art for the silkscreened poster took a full (but electric) day. This is what started it all:
D&L Screenprinting in Seattle printed the final 5-color piece (on red paper) from a multichannel Photoshop file I made from various tissue layers, all made with the brush pen. Even the type is rendered this way.
This project led me to make a series of sketches of this relationship between cat and bird. In some, I wanted to let the bird take the dominant role. In others, I wanted the viewer to question who was in control. I allowed them to take on human characteristics—both physical and emotional. The look in the cat’s eye could be either lustful or suspicious, depending on the context and point-of-view.
When an opportunity arose to give a presentation about poster design at an upcoming student design conference, I decided to make use of these sketches to create two additional posters—each for the same subject as the first, but for different theater groups. The three unique “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” posters, in my mind, would allow me to demonstrate that while there are numerous “right” answers when it comes to realizing an idea, the actual “act of making” is crucially linked to the ultimate success of the poster.
My second poster was the result of some sketches I had already done for ceramic bowl paintings.
The bird became the whiskers and mouth of the cat. Is the bird really there or is it made manifest by the cat’s inner desire? If it is really there, is it in danger or living in a symbiotic relationship with its host? It seemed to me, this was as iconic an example of a dangerous liaison as I could make.
The third poster was my effort to give the bird the upper hand. Stylistically, I also wanted to harken back to the ornate setting of the movie I remembered and loved. While I think I had some drawings that were more elegant and “refined” than the final poster drawing, I deferred to my first drawing in the series. It felt more honest for me to do it that way. Too often, I take too many steps. I don’t trust my gut the way I should.
The first and final sketch for the third poster in the series. I followed my instinct.
Other attempts at the main character, using two different pens.
And then, the final poster (made for silkscreen printing, of course).
Is the cat afraid, angry, nervous…? Is the bird wary or relaxed? Confident or cautious? That’s the fun part… allowing you to decide.
© 2009, Legendre+Rutter
The latest book cover designs for Inculte Publishing in Paris include covers for “Big Fan,” “The Fall: Saddam Hussein’s interrogation by the FBI,” and “The Sonic.” Inculte has a habit of making things interesting for these assignments, giving us books with content ranging from monumental documentary, to sci-fi conspiracy theory, to a title they describe as “a UFO on the 2009 literary scene.”
The most recent of the Inculte titles is “Big Fan,” written by Fabrice Colin. It is the story of Bill Madlock, a thrity year-old who lives in Oxford with his mother and pet iguana. Outwardly, his life is not easy. Girls flee from him, he avoids potential friends, and all the neighborhood dogs seem to have attracted his personal hatred. But Big Bill, amateur indie rocker, has a vital secret: he is the only one to understand the true meaning of the lyrics of Radiohead.
In July of 2008, Bill finds himself behind the high walls of the prison, Grendon, and he begins writing a novel describing the reasons that led him to shoot a security guard a month before a Radiohead concert in Victoria Park. His novel, incidentally, will also reveal to mankind the exact date of the end of the world.
“Big Fan” is a novel composed of three intertwining parts: Big Bill’s childhood in Oxford, a girlfriend’s ephemeral history with Radiohead, and the explanation of the “quantum conspiracy” against which the members of Radiohead (and now, Bill) have vainly tried to warn us.
Books are all in French. Find out more about inculte publishing. © 2009, Legendre+Rutter
