90 years ago the cars were more beautiful - even the poster

This is about posters for events like automobile salons. I have deliberately chosen the word "advertising graphics". Because the term advertising would be too sophisticated in connection with the posters for the automobile salon. Almost without exception, the posters for this gigantic auto show have no charisma. They all assume a graphic-driven presentation. The idea is also always missing. Making a car wheel out of the letter "O" is just not an idea.

If you then read what was written about the winning poster, which was created on the occasion of a competition of the Geneva School of Art and Design, you get dizzy. Quote from the website: "To stimulate the viewer's imagination with as few elements as possible. For this reason, he limited himself to playing with the text. This reads as multi-layered: on the one hand, it suggests the silhouette of a limousine and suggests mountains - a homage to the Swiss landscape. On the other hand, the geometric letters lead from the edge of the picture to the center, which in turn is reminiscent of the construction of roadways. Just as if 'all roads led to the automobile salon'. The poster is in cheerful colors, emphasizing the buoyancy and dynamism of the event."

It is always amazing what the writing faction is able to interpret into this school work. If you look at the last 20 posters for this event, you are almost without exception disappointed. Somehow the organizer and client do not have a challenging brief ready. On the contrary, there seems to be a lot of caution involved. Proof of this is also the fact that a student competition was held for 2014 and the choice certainly fell on one of the most well-behaved solutions.

My theory: A big event like the Autosalon doesn't really need advertising. So, since a lot of money is already invested in posters, advertisements and banners, one could advertise a little more boldly, wittily and conspicuously. There are some pleasing examples, such as the advertising for the Knie Circus, the Montreux or Willisau Jazz Festival, the Locarno Film Festival, the Zooh posters in Zurich, as well as the poster for the first Batman film and the posters for the Zurich Opera House. Posters that spontaneously come to mind. In the same class of illness as the Autosalon, there are the Art Basel ads, the musical Wahri Liebi and the Olma poster.

There is an endless amount in this category, but unfortunately also an endless amount of bad, amateurishly designed advertising. Just as the example of the car show showed a slow decline in design quality over the last 90 years, exactly the same phenomenon is taking place across the entire volume of advertising. In my opinion, both the client and the creative side lack the courage to come up with the most attentive, novel and amazing solution. Look again at the 90-year-old Autosalon poster and let yourself be positively inspired.

My opener was - like every 1st Monday of the month - the funk, soul and jazz concert with Ernst Who and Robi What at the Kaufleuten Lounge.

The 90-year-old Salon poster clearly wins the creative prize for me. The fact that advertising in general is getting worse can be seen not only in these examples.

Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, inspirer and, for the last three years, mothballs for Werbewoche readers. Please send any relevant information to [email protected].