History of the advertising poster

The poster, as we understand it today, is the means of propaganda and advertising oldest and used in history.

Let's see how it develops over the centuries creating, the form and usefulness of this powerful tool up to the present day.

The artistic advertising poster from the 18th to the 20th century

Nel 1700 i manifesti pubblicitari they occupied the fourth page of the newspapers of the time. Ogni manifesto che veniva pubblicato era stato realizzato dalle sapienti mani di artisti che vedevano in questo un’ importante occasione di esprimersi artisticamente e concettualmente.

Infatti, the eighteenth-century posters were made by painters, thus assuming a great artistic value as well as functional to the promotion of articles of all kinds.

Until the 1820s, advertisements were published free of charge in newspapers. E’ solo dalla seconda metà del secolo che se ne intuì l’importanza e venne imposto un pagamento per la pubblicazione.

The homeland of the birth and development of advertising poster with artistic value it was Paris, as evidenced by a letter from the famous Camille Pissarro addressed to his son in which he explained that the main interest of the artists had become the poster and the press.

The visual arts later began to mix with publishing and soon studies related to advertising and the power of images associated with text began.

At the end of the 18th century and with the beginning of the 19th, thus, the first advertising agencies were born, and thanks to the industrialization process and the start of mass production, the interest in expanding the range of sales grew thanks to the use of mass advertising with poster printing.

The printing of the Advertising Poster in Italy

In Italy the propaganda posters used by the political forces during the Second World War undoubtedly remain memorable.

Important Italian artists of the time produced several large-format posters containing slogans and evocative images that were posted on the walls of cities.

E’ dagli anni ’50 che il advertising poster full force resumed its main purpose, also thanks to the birth of RAI (Italian radio and television), which has changed the way of conceiving advertising by introducing a new form and a new language.

The posters, and more generally all advertising material, they soon took on a livelier tone; they began to use bright colors capable of attracting attention, ironic and even funny tones.

In the 70s and 80s we then witness another change in language.

I manifesti pubblicitari they become irreverent and provocative. The use of photography largely replaces the iconic images used until now and campaigns on social issues that were able to stir the emotions of the average user became central.

Present Day, despite the advent of the Internet and Social Media, the advertising poster maintains and defends a considerable importance in the world of advertising. In fact, it is estimated that the advertising poster printing sector continues to grow over the years.

So here's what a simple manifesto can, going through times and changes, maintain an undoubtedly memorable value for the world of advertising while also challenging investments in web advertising.