PERSUASION PLUS PLEASURE

U.S. posters slam the eye more often than they soothe it, and clutter up many a highway to the point where tourists are surprised to find the cows and trees behind the billboards. That posters are not necessarily obnoxious is amply proved by a traveling exhibition of European examples (opposite) currently installed at Chicago's Lakeside Press Galleries. They are mostly Swiss posters--because the Swiss not only produce the world's best, but know what to do with them.

Swiss posters aim to please the man in the street, not just persuade him. Recognizing that posters are a public art form as well as an advertising medium the Swiss limit them to reasonable size (35 by 50 inches), restrict their display to appropriate spots, and require that they be changed every fortnight. In addition, the government encourages poster artists with an annual competition.

Of last year's prizewinners, two show imaginative extremes of Swiss poster art. Herbert Leupin happily dabbles in a peasant palette of rich, bright colors, applies them with gaiety and wit; his poster for Eptinger mineral water is as bubbly as the drink itself. Prizewinner Hans Erni specializes in such unexpected stunts as turning the reels of a film projector into owlish eyes. Master of a flowing, Picassoesque line, sober-sided Erni works by a simple dictum: "It's the idea that matters."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.