(Psychedelic Poster Art: Victor Moscoso, n.d.)

Victor Moscoso is a graphic designer, famous for his psychedelic music  posters, underground comix and advertisements in San Fransisco during the mid-late 20th century. Many of his compositions look like optical illusions, which is what I think makes them appear so interesting as works of art. His process of working is said to have turned ‘traditional colour theory on its head’ (transpersonalspirit, n.d.) by creating evocative, vivid, erotic, patterned posters designed for the newly emerged psychedelic culture of San Fransisco in the late 1960’s.’ 

(Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, 1966)

The next counter culture image that I have decided to look at is ‘Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits’ poster, designed by Milton Glaser in 1967. Glaser’s also psychedelic style of work has already playeda hugely influential part in my ongoing journey as a practising designer. I first studied his work as part of a research project in my A Level graphics course and especially fell in love with his use of bright colours in this particular composition. I feel that these colours successfully contrast with the stark black silhouette of Dylan’s face, which makes the overall piece both simplistic yet entirely sophisticated in its design. I also believe that this well executed contrast between vibrant colours and simplistic shapes represents Milton’s  artistic style perfectly. 

(End Bad Breath, 1967)

As well as establishing his own design company, in 1954 Glaser also co-founded ‘Push Pin Studios’ with fellow budding designers, Seymour Chwast and Edward Sorel. Chwast’s poster ‘End Bad Breath’ (1969) is the final counter culture image that I have chosen to discuss. It is similar to Glaser’s work, in the sense that Chwast’s style could be described as relatively simple to the untrained eye. However, it is the political, social and moral backstories behind Chwast’s work that interests me most as a designer, as they add a new dimension to each composition that he creates. This particular poster, ‘End Bad Breath’, embodies all things American in an attempt to protest the Vietnam War in 1967. In an interview (100 Years of Design, n.d.), Seymor Chwast described the ‘cliche’s’ and ‘stereotypes’ that occurred during the design process, so in the end he decided to use ‘Uncle Sam’ to represent the ‘liberty’ within New York.

Image 1- Psychedelic Poster Art: Victor Moscoso. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://transpersonalspirit.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/psychedelic-poster-art-victor-moscoso/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

transpersonalspirit, V. (n.d.). Psychedelic Poster Art: Victor Moscoso. [online] Transpersonal Spirit. Available at: https://transpersonalspirit.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/psychedelic-poster-art-victor-moscoso/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Poster. (2017). [image] Available at: https://www.miltonglaser.com/milton/#1 [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

Pushpininc.com. (n.d.). Pushpin Gallery. [online] Available at: http://www.pushpininc.com/about/seymour/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

End Bad Breath. (1967). [image] Available at: http://www.pushpininc.com/gallery/posters/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

100 Years of Design. (n.d.). 100 Years of Design | AIGA. [online] Available at: http://celebratedesign.org/connect/solidarity/key-artifact/end-bad-breath [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].