Posters – they are perhaps the first-borns of the advertising tools. Almost every single brand on the planet opting for a promotional campaign has used posters as one of the means. Been around for more than 200 years, posters are the silent guardians for any brand. And just like any silent guardian, they too have a history worth telling and worth knowing.
With the advent of magazines, radio, and television, posters may have lost their earlier charm but they will go down in history as the disciplinary form of work which has been applied in all forms of visual art that include searching the most attractive of ways to arrange texts and images on a single sheet of paper.
Here are 6 points showing the journey of posters:
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Posters have been around for a long time
The first of the posters were hand-made ones, more than 220 years ago. Although there were some who opted for the press which came at large costs. While the more-preferred less-cost dual-colored poster printing came with the invention of lithography in 1796, colored posters came into existence with the invention of chromolithography in 1837.
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Modern typography and graphics owe themselves to posters
The various designs of online poster printing that are used today owe their inception to posters. Posters contain words and images which can be discernable from a distance. This, although not credible at that time, was itself responsible for the development of the modern typography and graphic design. Ideas from the 1880s and 90s contributed towards the present contemporary designs.
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Posters were the Advertising tool most-opted for
Before radio and television came into existence, poster printing was perhaps the only mode of brand promotion. They neither did nor do they still require electricity which was the perfect advantage during those times. Although they required the height for the particular line of sight intended for the audience, they still had a powerful impact.
The required height led to the emergence of billboards which was the first sign of the decline of the posters. Yet they were still in use. However, the real threat to their existence came with the advent of radio. Although they were still prevalent due to the delay in the spread of radio connections, it was apparent that their time was at hand. And then with magazines and finally television in the 1950s, posters were considered useless and dead.
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The Death and Resurrection of Posters
With the advent of television, posters were completely disregarded. Television was the better, faster and more effective means of brand promotion. Fewer and fewer companies opted for posters due to their ineffectiveness compared to television, radio or even magazine and the labor required for poster printing.
However, in the mid-1960s, posters regained their former popularity not just as a promotional tool but as an art-medium. New techniques and styles of poster making developed and it can be said that the popularity of the posters of today has its roots in the popularity which they had during this period.
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Many classic poster designs are now extinct
Due to their weak quality, the posters manufactured in the early days of their existence could not last for more than a month or two. There was no way of preservation which led to many classic ad designs getting extinct. All that exists are pictures or maybe only a few, that too in deteriorated conditions.
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Restoration
The posters made out of normal paper tend to receive creases due to their transportation and begin to deteriorate from these crease points. To avoid this, nowadays, the method of sticking it on a piece of fabric (linen) using glue is used. This method has been used since the 1800s and provides a strong structure that can endure wear and tear from transport and other handlings.
Online printing services providers manufacture posters at attractive wholesale prices which further enable the customer to save more and even invest in design if need be.
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Posters, irrespective of their up and down journey, have still been able to hold on to a stable position as a powerful promotional tool. Companies opt for High Quality Printing Services for their posters which serve to promote their brands better to a larger audience and the quality further reflects their professionalism.