ePoster Gallery 3/2024
Hopeful green: nature, food, and sustainability in poster advertising
During photosynthesis, oxygen and glucose are formed from carbon dioxide and water in green plants. The green of the plants therefore provides us with food and air to breathe. Green is the colour of abundance and plenitude. Therefore, it is little wonder that paradise is symbolized as the green Garden of Eden. Studies show that a green environment has a relaxing and regenerating effect. It also stands for a carefree life in which Mother Nature provides well-being and nutrition.
Many people would find the world bleak without green nature. Nevertheless, an average of 13 million hectares of forest are cut down every year. There is a great deal of resistance to this worldwide, so that hope – which is green, as we all know – for a green future is not lost.
Bettina Richter, curator of the poster collection at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, explains her favourite poster from the virtual exhibition "Hopeful Green".
Niklaus Troxler, [without text], 1992
"Niklaus Troxler has gone down in international design history above all with his wonderful jazz posters. Time and again, however, he also uses the poster medium to raise urgent socio-political issues. His "Tote Bäume" (Dead Trees) poster from 1992 is a true icon. The title does not appear on the poster itself, though; it manages entirely without words and is therefore universally understandable and timeless. It was originally created at the request of the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro but was rejected as too violent. With the support of APG|SGA, Troxler was nevertheless able to print the poster and display it in Switzerland. I call it "Blutende Bäume" (Bleeding Trees). The harsh complementary contrast of red and green, the seemingly endless sequence of the formally very reduced tree stumps, their cut surfaces reminiscent of wounds: In retrospect, the poster is a sad prophecy of international inactivity and human failure. It remains an image that shakes us up, precisely because it hurts. An image of lasting topicality."
Bettina Richter, curator of the poster collection at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
M & C Saatchi
Henniez – Leben pur
2009
Anonym
Pepita Grapefruit – Erfrischend anders
2016
Steinmann & Bolliger
Orangina
1936
Anonym
Herbalpina
1937
Charles Loupot
Voisin Automobiles
1923
Anonym
Zalando
2022
Anonym
Diesel – Nature
2004
Emil Schulthess / Hans Frei
Foto: Georg Gerster
Swissair – Brazil
1972
Vincent Perrottet
Foto: Richard Pelletier
Nouveau Relax
2020
Gavillet & Rust
Foto: Lola Reboud
Ringier
2011
Caroline Hösli
Serenaden im Park der Villa Schönberg
2017
Holenstein & Holenstein
Fireflies!
2016
Wirz Werbung AG
Sag’s doch am Telefon. Telecom
1996
Claude Kuhn
Tierpark Dählhölzli
2007
Otl Aicher
Foto: Max Mühlberger
München 1972
1972
Ikko Tanaka
Kazuyoshi Miyoshi – Photographic exhibition: World heritage "Yakushima"
2000
Komun GmbH / Daniel Hertli
Foto: Schaub Stierli Fotografie
Zürcher Theater Spektakel
2013
TBS & Partner / Daniel Leber, Dominik Büttner
Zürcher Theater Spektakel
2013
Studio Anderhalden / Heinz Anderhalden
Zurich Design Weeks.
2022
Valentina Stieger
Kunstverein St. Gallen
2015
Anaëlle Clot
Espace Culturel Assens – Chemin faisant…
2018
Moiré Zürich / Marc Kappeler, Markus Reichenbach
[ohne Text]
2002
Annik Troxler
Coronavirus – Jetzt umdenken!
2020
Anonym
Rettet den Orang-Utan-Wald!
ca. 2007
Martin Peikert
Ein Ja der Wildpflege
1954
Niklaus Troxler
[ohne Text]
1992
Capirone-Nünlist / Markus Capirone, Beatrice Nünlist
Wählt Grüne
ca. 1987
Anonym
Jede Minute verschwinden 23 Hektaren Wald in der Welt
1983
Jean Robert
Environment 74
1974
Anonym
Hugo – Hugo Boss
1998
Poster collection, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
The poster collection at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich is one of the most comprehensive and important archives of its kind in the world. It contains around 350,000 objects, with about 150,000 catalogued, all documenting the national and international history of the poster from its origins in the mid-19th century to the present day. The collection includes political, cultural and commercial posters. Their diversity of historical, thematic and geographic subjects results in both a panorama of poster art and a glimpse into a visual archive of day-to-day life. Some of the posters are available to view in the museum’s online database: www.emuseum.ch. This database is constantly being expanded.
Rights
The images in this online exhibition are part of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich’s digital poster collection and are for illustration purposes only. Publication of the images or other commercial use for the benefit of third parties is not permitted without the permission of the copyright holders. For information on ordering image templates: sammlungen@museum-gestaltung.ch