Petra Eisele

The dynamic correlation between the poster as an artistic and creative medium and the role played by women is examined by this publication to accompany an exhibition at Museum Wiesbaden. A selection of posters from the years 1905-1921 shows women’s diverse roles as they were portrayed publicly. Skilfully staged in design terms, they convey to society what behaviour was socially desirable, what measure of freedom was conceivable, and the boundaries that were non-negotiable. For the male poster designer, the woman is a model used in a variety of ways. But female graphic designers also designed posters professionally. Their designs show women’s growing self-confidence in leaving behind the unique artwork and small formats, and instead entering the public eye with large-format advertising media that could be reproduced in large numbers. Look inside Posters from the first heyday of German poster design (1905-1921) Male and female views of women’s role in society Female graphic designers: Emancipation through poster design Exhibition: Museum Wiesbaden, October 11th, 2024 to June 15th, 2025

The 1920s in Germany witnessed a revolution in visual communication, typography, and graphic design that still influences us today. In 1929, Hungarian avant-garde artist and Bauhaus professor László Moholy-Nagy was invited to design a room dedicated to the future of typography at the Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin as part of a larger exhibition called New Typography ("Neue Typographie"). The exhibition was organised by the Ring of New Advertising Designers ("ring neue werbegestalter"), a group started by Kurt Schwitters in 1927 which consisted of 12 avant-garde designers and artists who explored a common vision of modernity in advertising and graphic design. In five years, the Ring put on over 20 shows in Germany, and invited guest artists to exhibit with them. Moholy-Nagy's room in the New Typography show was called "Where is Typography Headed?". He created 78 freestanding panels with work by himself, other artists, and contemporary printed matter, which addressed the current trends and future direction of typography. The panels are reproduced together in this book for the first time, along with an Abcdarium of terms and concepts by a roster of noted typography and design historians.