French Poster Craze Questions

1. What characteristics of the Japanese wood block prints attribute to the French posters during the 1880s?
The Japanese wood block prints attribute to the French posters in the sense that they were both trying to advertise a message that each culture had. The Japanese wood blocks were trying to show off the beautiful Japanese women. The French posters were also advertising the women in their country. 

2. Of the Early European Illustrated Posters- which poster and designer attracted your eye? What about their design style do you like? Do you see it's relevance in graphic design today?The poster that attracted my eye was the lady on the bicycle. (Edward Penfield) The design caught my eye because the whole poster has dark colors, then the lady's hair and parts of her bike and shirt are also orange. The small touches of color drew me into the picture. Small splashes of color allow for a larger attraction for me. I do see a relevance in the sense that people today use programs to make pictures like that. 

3. In the Cubism Meets the Airbrush tab- How are these posters different than the Early European work? How would you describe the style? 

These posters are more linear and structural. They do not look as "drawn" as the Early European work. The style is more abstract and modern. I feel like I see a lot more posters like this today, then the Early European. In NYC, there are many posters that look like these types. 

4. For the Photographic Posters- choose one of the artwork that appeals to you and how do you think they created these posters without Photoshop? Brief explanation on how you think they did it. 

One that appealed to me was the Photomontage or collage because I feel like it is a mellow yet drastic piece of artwork. The colors are soft, but the pictures are busy. This was created without photoshop because the artist took these photos, cut them, then put them together on a poster or a piece of paper. The didn't need to use photoshop in order to create this piece. 

5. From the Swiss Posters, choose one poster where the composition has a clear focal point, then choose one where the composition has movement/dynamic. Explain why you chose them. 

The Swiss International poster's clear focal point is the yellow point that begins in the center of the poster and rises to the top of the page. It is clear that the mountain is the focal point because the rest of the poster are dark colors, and the mountain is a bright gold/yellow.