Today's graphics gurus inspire tomorrow’s
Paula Scher, Mike Dempsey, Bob Gill and Phaidon's own Julia Hasting all design posters for Spain’s LAUS Awards
Some of the world's best-known designers have created posters for the LAUS Awards, a Spanish design and advertising competition. The 46 contributors were picked by the renowned designer Astrid Stavro, who oversaw the layout of two cookery books for Phaidon, The Lebanese Kitchen and Vegetables from an Italian Garden, and whose studio is in Majorca.
A real designer’s designer, Stavro, has curated a fabulous line-up for the LAUS Awards, which aims to promote good graphic design and visual communications, in the hope of inspiring creatives to think big.
“We are encouraging and challenging Spanish designers to match their immense talent at an international level,” she says.
The designers were briefed to relate their call-for-entries-poster to the theme of connections. Stavro, who studied in London, has included a large selection of UK talent, including Mike Dempsey, Tony Brook, Simon Esterson, Wallpaper*’s editor-in-chief Tony Chambers, and Fraser Muggeridge.
Derek Birdsall’s risqué image, started life as a wood engraving ‘Lady C’ in 1931. Though the most un-child-friendly contribution comes from KesselsKramer’s creative director Erik Kessels. It comprises 81 internet photos of men measuring their erect penis against their TV remote control.
Nick Bell protests on his poster that ‘If I wanted to make a connection I would not design a poster’, and instead he would travel to be with people and work with them on the ground. Much colour is on show from Alan Kitching, whose multi-coloured capital letters spell out the word ‘connections’.
Meanwhile, Ivan Chermayoff’s letters were cut out of coloured paper and spell the word ‘posters’. Bob Gill’s illustrates the theme with colourful acrobats. Phaidon’s own creative director Julia Hasting is also in the line-up, submitting a beautiful meditation on the (red-yellow-blue) primary colour model. Hasting is also judging LAUS's graphic design category.
Along with Gill, Pentagram partners past and present include John McConnell, Angus Hyland, Paula Scher, ex-partner David Hillman, whose 1988 redesign of The Guardian newspaper is still revered, and who says of his poster: “the international symbol for ON/OFF seemed to be a perfect answer to the theme of connections.”
For greater insight into graphic design talent past and present order a copy of The Archive of Graphic Design her; and for more great source material from Erik, order a copy of Failed it!, his visually arresting guide to turning mistakes into ideas and other advice for screwing up successfully.