Rene Wanner's Poster Page

BOOK REVIEW


front cover Poster Annual 2000
edited by B. Martin Pedersen; published by Graphis Inc, New York (2000); 256 pages, with more than 600 color illustrations according to the publisher, I found only 270; 22 x 30 cm; hardcover; ISBN 1-888001-67-4; with an introduction in english, german and french; US$ 70.00

(this is the back cover)

The Graphis Poster Annuals used to be excellent, representative and interesting documentations of the international poster scene, but that time is long gone. The Poster Annual 2000 has reached a new low point in that sad development.

To begin with, the book's designer has cleverly put two page numbers on one page, and then leaves one page empty, and is even more creative in the (mis)placement of figure captions.

This apparently confuses and frustrates the editor to such an extent that he is unable to prepare a passable index. Consider this:

Judged from the one example where I know the original poster ( Bortolotti's "Sydney 2000" ), printing quality is poor, despite a general impression that the book is an expensive high-gloss production. You find a much better picture in Bortolotti's mexican catalogue.

The publisher boasts that this book "is the result of a careful selection of works from thousands of international entries". There are no country names listed together with the pictures, but my guess would be that 80% are from the United States. Notably absent are posters from France, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands. Great contemporary masters like Fukuda, Nagai, Rambow, Le Quernec, Faldin, Matthies, Mitsuo Katsui, U.G. Sato, Makoto Saito, Swierzy, Beeke, Orosz, Tissi did apparently not quite make the grade and are missing in this so-called International Annual of Poster Art.

Nevertheless, the title of the book is written in three languages, but the editor can't even spell "Plakat" correctly on the front page.

This compilation has some entertainment value, but you have to have a good sense of humor to spend 70 Dollars for that.


front cover Poster Annual 2001
CEO and Creative Director B. Martin Pedersen; published by Graphis Inc, New York (2001); 256 pages, with nearly 400 designs according to the publisher, I found only 277; 22 x 30 cm; hardcover; ISBN 1-888001-72-0; with an introduction in english and japanese; US$ 70.00

(this is the back cover)

Highlights from the Graphis Poster Annual 2001 include the poster for the Willisau Jazz Festival 2000, which is attributed to Masayuki Terashima instead of Niklaus Troxler, who is also left out of the index.

Four posters (p.8, 159, 193 and 202) appeared in last year's volume already, although sometimes in a different print quality, one poster appears twice, and the detailed view of one poster has a different tint than the full view.




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