Tuesday, January 27, 2009

polish poster haters

So we've posted images of fab Polish posters and other variations on poster design, so this decent gallery at wellmedicated.com is nothing new. What is fascinating is the over 300 comments about the post, particularly the people who call these posters garbage. Thanks internet. Thanks for giving these morons power. I've excerpted some of the choice comments below as well as some positive ones.

Straight Time

The Changeling

Critters

Don't Look Now

Short Circuit 2

Enter The Dragon

Bukator - August 23rd, 2008
Are u ppl blind? These are garbage. It looks like they were drawn with pencil crayons and markers by a ten year old. We live in a world of photoshop now. These poters look to be drawn in Microsoft Paint. Get with the times man. I like vintage design just as much as anyone else but these are just terrible excuses for art. Very lazy designs here that seem to be whipped up in minutes by whoever created them. If this is what it looks like throughout Poland, then they are missing out big time.

jkillah1 - August 25th, 2008
Many of you may call these “art”, but maybe you are just giving them too much credit because they are old. To me, they just remind me of all those dirty, boring, drab things from decades ago. Like watching TV shows from the early 90’s.

I love good art, and don’t get me wrong. The modern hollywood posters are not that great, but at least they have some vibrant color!

Nowadays, all that these posters would do is depress people and make them think that the films were boring! I’m surprised that so many people like these. It just gives me a sinking feeling in my gut. Uggh!

Atama - September 14th, 2008
i thought some of these were really good,but most of them were just disgusting. the never ending story one for instance is lazy and uninspired. i mean really,its like the guy was commissioned,and the day before it was due,he got drunk and watched the movie and then doodled what he remembered the next morning while eating breakfast before he went to drop it off. the Gandhi one,though,was absolutely beautiful. very Dali-esque. but to call any of these posters better than American ones is pretty off,one because that’s a pretty broad opinion,and two,because every one of these paintings is completely and utterly destroyed by Drew Struzan and folks of his caliber. still very nice and interesting though:D

The Final Word - September 15th, 2008
It’s frustrating (though not surprising) to see the negative comments on this board. It’s too bad that so many folks are so put off by the unfamiliar, when we should all be embracing it. These are all truly remarkable pieces.

To those who suggest that these are poorly drawn: You’re foolish.

To those who suggest that these were created to skirt copyright: You’re incorrect. They were created because, believe it or not, America’s design sensibility is neither universal nor supreme. Poles respond to advertising that reflects their sensibilities, as they should.

Haters hate. Playas play.

John Peter Paul - September 19th, 2008
I grew up in Poland in 70’s and 80’s. These posters represent the dominant artistic mood of the whole country at that time. We listened to dark and complex music, we valued deep literature, we were a rather somber and serious culture- with a romantic twist. It was a direct reflection of political and economic suppression as well as the result of very dominant catholic religious culture. We also looked to England, Italy and France more than the USA for artistic direction and inspiration.
Things have changed since, but to look back at those posters brings back some good and some not so good memories.
As to the colors, the repro and printing technology was not great. Also, some of the posters were well aged by the time they were digitized for display here

3 comments:

Michael said...

I've run across this myself in the poster world. Lots of haters there too. It's normally a complaint about the image having little or nothing to do with the film. A lot of people collect movie posters for the nostalgia and that doesn't work with the Eastern European examples because it doesn't remind them of anything! They're for the lovers of design. And, from what I (from Otto) understand, the Eastern European designers weren't forced to sell the film with the poster so much as represent it as they wished. That's a nice idea for sure.

Frank White said...

I love the people who claim "Obsolescence!" because we live in the "age of photoshop." Yes some of these Polish posters are a touch crude, but man do they have most of the slick, soulless "floating head" posters that Hollywood produces these days beat by a mile and a half.

Poster Print said...

Cool. This post is getting my creative juices going!