This poster advertises an exhibition of avant-garde posters from Tschichold's personal collection, signaling his association with an international constellation of designers. The group's identity was established through a strategic use of revolutionary red and a lowercase, "universal" typeface that could not be linked with individual artistic styles or national traditions such as the German black-letter Gothic. "Only anonymity in the elements we use and the application of laws transcending self," Tschichold wrote, "assures the emergence of a general, collective culture which will encompass all expressions of life, including typography." This poster is a textbook example of principles outlined in his influential book Die Neue Typographie (1928). The simplest of elements—black, red, vertically and horizontally placed text, asymmetry, and balance—are combined in a rational abstract composition that enhances the communicative function of the poster.
The New Typography, December 23, 2009–July 26, 2010.
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