Smashing Magazine

Breathtaking Typographic Posters

• By Vitaly Friedman
• February 25th, 2008
• ArtIllustrationsPosters
• 122 Comments

You can’t design without type. However, yon can use only type (or mostly only type) to create breath-taking designs. In fact, many graphic designers and artists take exactly this route to communicate their ideas through their works. The results are sometimes crazy, sometimes artsy, sometimes beautiful, but often just different from things we’re used to. Thus designers explore new horizons and we explore new viewing perspectives which is what inspiration is all about.

¹
You can’t design without type: this² is an argument for it.

This post showcases over 50 breathtaking typographic posters designed by artists across the globe. We feature Oriental, Iranian, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese and Russian typographic posters as well as a number of further references. This isn’t a “best of”, there is no ranking and the collection isn’t supposed to be complete; it’s rather subjective and quite random. All screenshots are clickable; however, links not always lead directly to the corresponding image (e.g. it’s impossible in Flash-based sites) — sometimes you’ll need to search for it.

You may also want to take a look at the article Typography In Motion³ we’ve published few months ago.

So what can be achieved out of simple letters and symbols? Please be patient, some screenshots are huge.

Breathtaking Typographic Posters Link

Christina Koehn / University of Washington, USA

Alex Banks⁴ / United Kingdom

⁵

Emiliano Lionel Suárez⁶ / Argentina

⁷

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Juanma Teixidó⁹ / Asunción, Paraguay

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Emil Kozak¹¹ / Spain

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Pablo Alfieri¹³ / Buenos Aires, Argentina

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HeyHo¹⁶ / France

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Vincent Bousserez¹⁸ / Paris, France

¹⁹

Drew Kora²⁰ / Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

²¹

in the lab²²

²³

²⁴

Aron Jancso²⁵ / Budapest, Hungary

²⁶

²⁷

Andre Bergamin²⁸ / Brazil

²⁹

Oh Ishi³⁰ / Siam, Thailand

³¹

Alejandro Paul³² / Buenos Aires, Argentina

³³

³⁴

mrgraphicsguy³⁵ / Germany

³⁶

³⁷

³⁸

lee25³⁹ / United Kingdom

⁴⁰

Shaun Morrison⁴¹ / Brighton, England

⁴²

25ah⁴³ / Stockholm, Sweden

⁴⁴

Andy Cambiaso⁴⁵ / Argentina

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Puerto Baires⁴⁷ / Buenos Aires, Argentina

⁴⁸

Todd Roeth⁴⁹ / USA

⁵⁰

Piotr Fedorczyk⁵¹ / Florence, Italy

⁵²

⁵³

Noel Tanner⁵⁴ / Minneapolis, USA

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Kate Andrews⁵⁶ / London, United Kingdom

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Experimental Jetset⁵⁸ / Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Lennart Wolfert ⁶⁰/ Netherlands

⁶¹

Farhad Fozuni⁶² / Iran

⁶³

Yaronimus Maximus⁶⁴ / Israel

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Bunch⁶⁶ / UK

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Playful applications for the 55DSL 2007 Christmas instore incentive. Tape and posters were designed and sent to each store where the staff were then encouraged to get creative with what they taped up to win 555 GBP worth of prizes.

Alex Trochut⁶⁸ / Spain

⁶⁹

Arjo Wiggins Poster

Pixelgarten⁷⁰ / Germany

⁷¹

Apirat Infahsaeng⁷² / New York

Poster announcing Brian Collins’ lecture Design Changes Everything.

MAISON DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE Création de la nouvelle identité visuelle.
Projet non retenu.

Purple Haze⁷³ / Germany

⁷⁴

Rote Sonne Club (2007). Poster design for a clubnight.

Think Experimental⁷⁵ / France

⁷⁶

Aaron Pou⁷⁷ / USA

⁷⁸

Maxime Delporte⁷⁹ / France

⁸⁰

⁸¹

Job Wouters⁸² / Netherlands

⁸³

In collaboration with Roel Wouters. Printed by Knust.
Folded A3 flyers for Jungstar (formaly known as Zeitgeist) a bimonthly party held at the sugarfactory organised by the MRKMLN-group.

Zak Group⁸⁴

⁸⁵

There’s always work in progress / you’re always a work in progress.

Sterk Water⁸⁶ / Belgium

⁸⁷

Poster made for a expo of a local art school promoting the free grahics and the sculpturing department.

C100⁸⁸ / Germany

⁸⁹

A Club Poster from Berlin

Mark Andrew Webber⁹⁰ / Falmouth, England

⁹¹

Hanna Czapka⁹² / Germany

⁹³

Bonus Link

Job Woulters⁹⁴
80 of 500 handdrawn typographic posters by Job Wouters are shown in a 3 minute filmclip by Roel Wouters. The posters promote the students final works at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. The handwriting is… beautiful.

References and Resources Link

Oriental Typography Posters⁹⁵ By Malik Anas.
⁹⁶

Iranian Typography Now⁹⁷⁹⁸

Chinese Typography Pool⁹⁹¹⁰⁰

DailyType.ru¹⁰¹
A creative project run by several russian type designers. Day by day, they create original typefaces and post their results along with routine.

Hebrew Typography¹⁰²
Oded Ezer.¹⁰³

Hebrew Type Flickr Pool¹⁰⁴
The showcase of Hebrew Typography.¹⁰⁵

Japanese Typography Flickr Pool¹⁰⁶¹⁰⁷

Typotecture: Typography as Architectural Imagery¹¹⁴¹¹⁵

Footnotes Link

1. 1 http://liquisoft.deviantart.com/art/Current-Screenshot-9263483
2. 2 http://liquisoft.deviantart.com/art/Current-Screenshot-9263483
3. 3 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/19/monday-inspiration-typography-in-motion/
4. 4 http://atobgraphics.deviantart.com/
5. 5 http://atobgraphics.deviantart.com/art/The-Year-Was-2005-27032900
6. 6 http://www.watafak.com.ar/
7. 7 http://www.watafak.com.ar/
8. 8 http://www.watafak.com.ar/
9. 9 http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanmateixido/
10. 10 http://www.flickr.com/photos/juanmateixido/2258607095/
11. 11 http://emilkozak.com/category/work
12. 12 http://emilkozak.com/category/work
13. 13 http://flickr.com/photos/en_remolinos/
14. 14 http://flickr.com/photos/en_remolinos/2230034608/
15. 15 http://flickr.com/photos/en_remolinos/2255608297/in/photostream/
16. 16 http://www.heyho.fr
17. 17 http://www.heyho.fr/fr/hey_ho/maison_de_la_photographie.html
18. 18 http://flickr.com/photos/bousserez/sets/72157602575645633/
19. 19 http://flickr.com/photos/bousserez/2168949142/in/pool-ilovetypography
20. 20 http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravitymachine/2248058058/
21. 21 http://www.flickr.com/photos/gravitymachine/2248058058/
22. 22 http://flickr.com/photos/inthelab/
23. 23 http://flickr.com/photos/inthelab/2076195811/in/pool-swisslegacy
24. 24 http://flickr.com/photos/inthelab/2076195811/in/pool-swisslegacy
25. 25 http://flickr.com/photos/mil3n/
26. 26 http://flickr.com/photos/mil3n/2238804850/
27. 27 http://flickr.com/photos/mil3n/2252183004/
28. 28 http://flickr.com/photos/andrebergamin/2141923898/in/pool-ilovetypography
29. 29 http://flickr.com/photos/andrebergamin/2141923898/in/pool-ilovetypography
30. 30 http://flickr.com/photos/oh_ishi/274786781/in/pool-ilovetypography
31. 31 http://flickr.com/photos/oh_ishi/274786781/in/pool-ilovetypography
32. 32 http://flickr.com/photos/17849178@N00/
33. 33 http://flickr.com/photos/17849178@N00/2118108875/in/pool-348309@N25
34. 34 http://flickr.com/photos/17849178@N00/329947635/in/set-72157594259880507/
35. 35 http://mrgraphicsguy.deviantart.com/
36. 36 http://mrgraphicsguy.deviantart.com/art/Retro-Artist-Poster-61369948
37. 37 http://mrgraphicsguy.deviantart.com/art/technicalLove-50236884
38. 38 http://mrgraphicsguy.deviantart.com/art/We-Built-A-Tunnel-56163803
39. 39 http://lee25.deviantart.com/art/Ecosystem-BW-34475568
40. 40 http://lee25.deviantart.com/art/Ecosystem-BW-34475568
41. 41 http://flickr.com/photos/shaun_morrison/146065326/
42. 42 http://flickr.com/photos/shaun_morrison/146065326/
43. 43 http://www.25ah.se/
44. 44 http://www.25ah.se/
45. 45 http://flickr.com/photos/andycambiasso/2136042426/in/pool-43935388657@N01
46. 46 http://flickr.com/photos/andycambiasso/2136042426/in/pool-43935388657@N01
47. 47 http://www.flickr.com/photos/puertobaires/
48. 48 http://www.flickr.com/photos/puertobaires/2260090727/
49. 49 http://www.toddroeth.com/class/grph_210/38/06-type-as-meaning-compositon
50. 50 http://www.toddroeth.com/class/grph_210/38/06-type-as-meaning-compositon
51. 51 http://designr.it
52. 52 http://www.flickr.com/photos/presentday/2284486520/
53. 53 http://www.flickr.com/photos/presentday/2249802750/
54. 54 http://flickr.com/photos/noeltanner/1318412060/
55. 55 http://flickr.com/photos/noeltanner/1318412060/
56. 56 http://flickr.com/photos/undercover_surrealist/sets/72157600346272584/
57. 57 http://flickr.com/photos/undercover_surrealist/1120187590/
58. 58 http://www.experimentaljetset.nl/
59. 59 http://www.experimentaljetset.nl/archive/2AFN_Poster.html
60. 60 http://www.lennartwolfert.nl
61. 61 http://www.lennartwolfert.nl/posters/is-this-type/
62. 62 http://www.omami.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=330&Itemid=30
63. 63 http://www.omami.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=330&Itemid=30
64. 64 http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaronimus/575956485/
65. 65 http://www.flickr.com/photos/yaronimus/575956485/
66. 66 http://www.bunchdesign.com
67. 67 http://www.bunchdesign.com/index1.php
68. 68 http://www.alextrochut.com/
69. 69 http://www.alextrochut.com/
70. 70 http://pixelgarten.de/
71. 71 http://pixelgarten.de/index.php?id=73
72. 72 http://www.syntheticautomatic.com
73. 73 http://www.thepurplehaze.net/
74. 74 http://www.thepurplehaze.net/
75. 75 http://www.thinkexperimental.fr
76. 76 http://www.thinkexperimental.fr/index.php?cat=print&id=esaab2006
77. 77 http://www.printdesignandindustry.com/
78. 78 http://www.printdesignandindustry.com/
79. 79 http://www.maximedelporte.com
80. 80 http://www.maximedelporte.com/project/biennale-de-varsovie-06/
81. 81 http://www.flickr.com/photos/23616692@N02/2252547555/
82. 82 http://www.letman.com/
83. 83 http://www.letman.com/#ZEITGEIST
84. 84 http://www.zak.to
85. 85 http://www.zak.to/work/fall--21205/
86. 86 http://www.sterkwater.be
87. 87 http://www.sterkwater.be/Projects/vrije_grafiek.html
88. 88 http://www.c100studio.com/
89. 89 http://www.c100studio.com/
90. 90 http://flickr.com/photos/markandrewwebber/
91. 91 http://flickr.com/photos/markandrewwebber/2258521132/
92. 92 http://www.stefano-picco.de/blog/2008/02/14/kalligrafie-und-lyrik-%e2%80%93-lyrik-und-typografie/
93. 93 http://www.stefano-picco.de/blog/2008/02/14/kalligrafie-und-lyrik-%e2%80%93-lyrik-und-typografie/
94. 94 http://www.typeforyou.org/2007/01/31/80-of-500-handdrawn-posters/
95. 95 http://malikanas.deviantart.com/art/Oriental-Pages-Page-22-55603401
96. 96 http://malikanas.deviantart.com/art/Oriental-Pages-Page-22-55603401
97. 97 http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/12/11/iranian-typography-now/
98. 98 http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/12/11/iranian-typography-now/
99. 99 http://www.flickr.com/groups/c-typo/pool/
100. 100 http://www.flickr.com/photos/30909667@N00/2097637796/in/pool-c-typo
101. 101 http://dailytype.ru/
102. 102 http://pingmag.jp/2006/01/20/oded-ezer-experimental-hebrew-typography/
103. 103 http://pingmag.jp/2006/01/20/oded-ezer-experimental-hebrew-typography/
104. 104 http://www.flickr.com/groups/35903275@N00/
105. 105 http://www.flickr.com/photos/enginkorkmaz/504542516/in/set-72157600314596774/
106. 106 http://www.flickr.com/groups/japanese-typography/pool/
107. 107 http://www.flickr.com/photos/in-duce/2263196736/
108. 108 http://www.pingmag.jp/category/typography/
109. 109 http://www.typeforyou.org/2007/10/17/best-100-posters-from-2006/
110. 110 http://www.flickr.com/groups/text/pool/
111. 111 http://www.behance.net/Circle_Projects?browse=recent&circle=36904
112. 112 http://www.flickr.com/groups/what_is_graphic_design_poster_competition/pool/
113. 113 http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/winners_of_the_what_is_graphic_design_poster_competition/
114. 114 http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2006/12/typotecture_typ.html
115. 115 http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2006/12/typotecture_typ.html
116. 116 http://news.deviantart.com/article/41978/
117. 117 http://www.linotype.com/helveticaNOW
118. 118 http://www.100-beste-plakate.de/2006/bildschau_06.htm
119. 119 http://flickr.com/photos/fish2000/sets/72157603507079810/

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