September 11, 2015 – October 21, 2015

El Paso Museum of Art

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Lucian Bernhard, Priester, 1906.
 lakatstil, or “poster style” in German, refers to a mode of

graphic design that originated in Berlin, Germany in the ear-

ly 1900s. It is mainly characterized by its use of a few, but eye-catching,

colors, plain backgrounds, and reduced simplified subjects. Plakatstil

mostly consisted of a large title, usually the product’s name, and a single

central image, as a form of advertising. The posters reached large audi-

ences and expressed their messages successfully. Some of the most not-

ed designers in Plakatstil’s history were Julius Klinger, Ludwig Hohlwein,

Julius Gipkens, Hans Rudi Erdt, and Lucian Bernhard.

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Lucian Bernhard (1883–1972) was born in Vienna, Austria and briefly

studied at the Munich Academy, although he was mostly self taught. Prior

to becoming an influential poster designer, he struggled as a poet and de-

cided to focus on design. His winning entry for Priester Matches’ design

competition in 1906 garnered him attention in the poster design world.

The poster depicts two matchsticks against a dark background, and the

company name, Priester. His design did not come about immediately; it

took him several attempts before reaching the final product. Bernhard

pulled away from Art Nouveau’s highly decorative style and instead fol-

lowed a clear, simple, and legible aesthetic. He explains,

Bernhard collaborated in Das Plakat, a magazine first published in

Berlin in 1910, that showcased new designers’ posters. By 1920, Ber-

nhard became the first professor in poster design at the Royal Acade-

my in Berlin. In 1923, he settled in New York and taught at the Art Stu-

dents League and New York University, and became the co-founder of

the design firm, Contempora. To this day, many typefaces have been

named for and based upon his distinctive designs. Some of Bernhard’s

most notable posters are: Stiller, for a shoe company, 1908, and Nov-

elta Cigaretten , 1912, By 1918 the First World War was reaching its

end and posters were an important medium of communication. Most

of Bernhard’s poster style remained consistent throughout time and is

easily identifiable as being his. Other designers followed his approach,

and together they formed what became the Plakatstil Movement.

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Lucian Bernhard, Stiller, 1908.

Lucian Bernhard, Novelta Cigaretten, 1912.

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Julius Klinger, Künstler-Plakate, 1912. Julius Klinger, Die Lustige Woche, 1907.

Julius Klinger (1876–1950) was part of the lithography firm Holler-

baum and Schmidt. The firm also hired designers Hans Rudi Erdt, Ju-

lius Gipkens, and Lucian Bernhard. Klinger was born and educated in

Vienna, Austria and was interested in flat colors, the reduction of de-

tails, and having the subject as the main focal point. His posters Küns-

tler-Plakate, 1912, and Die Lustige Woche, 1907, reflected that. In 1917,

during the First World War, he created a war poster for Germany’s

Eighth Bond Drive, which depicted eight arrows piercing a dragon, meant

to remind its citizens that their gifts have helped wound the enemy.

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Julius Klinger, Untitled, 1917.

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Ludwig Hohlwein, Wilhem Mozer, 1909. Ludwig Hohlwein, Starnberger-See, 1910.

Ludwig Hohlwein (1874–1949), was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, stud-

ied architecture in Munich and later developed an interest in graph-

ic design. At age thirty, being a self taught designer, he began to focus

on poster design. His approach to Plakatstil was more illustrative than

Bernhard’s, but still combined the same elements characterized by this

poster style. After the First World War, he designed propaganda post-

ers for the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which reflected

Germany’s atmosphere during that period. Hohlwein was interested

in flat shapes and bright colors, but combined both abstract and nat-

uralistic elements. His posters: Wilhelm Mozer, 1909; Mayer Sund-

heimer, 1909; and Starnberger-See, 1910; reflect his signature style.

Ludwig Hohlwein, Mayer Sundheimer, 1909.

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Julius Gipkens, Der Gedeckte, 1912. Julius Gipkens, Untitled, 1917.

Born in Hanover, Germany, Julius Gipkens (1883–1968) was a self taught

designer based in Berlin. His designs consisted of bold illustrations that

contrasted a plain background. An early poster of his was Der Gedeckte,

for Hollerbaum and Schmidt, 1912. As time progressed, and war became

more prominent, he began to design for the German government. His

poster of 1917 was used to promote an exhibition of captured airplanes.

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Hans Rudi Erdt, Bar Riche, 1907. Hans Rudi Erdt, U Boote Heraus!, ca. 1916.

Hans Rudi Erdt (1883–1918) attended the Munich Industrial Col-

lege and worked for Hollerbaum and Schmidt. His commercial work

includes Bar Riche, Munich, 1907. A very noted work of his was U

Boote Heraus!, or U-Boats Out!, around 1916. The poster was meant

to celebrate the heroes in the submarine warfare in Germany. Al-

though his prior posters used brighter colors and contained fewer

details, this propaganda poster continued to use Plakatstil elements.

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Stokes Signs, Lighthouse Point. Stokes Signs, Boardwalk Ferris Wheel.

The Plakatstil Movement continues to influence modern designers to-

day. A modern American example is Stokes Signs, based in Santa Cruz,

California. It focuses on designing signs for its local clients by creating

posters that clearly use the Plakatstil style. Lighthouse Point, advertises a

landmark and uses bold names and colors, plain backgrounds, and a sin-

gle image. Boardwalk Ferris Wheel, is another contemporary example in-

spired by this movement. Most of contemporary commercial art, even if

not all reflects Plakatstil, strives to offer a clear, simple, and direct design

in order to achieve its purpose of delivering a message to a wide variety

of audiences. Thus the legacy of Plakatstil style lives on today.