I spent a semester abroad in Rome, Italy when I was in school. While I was there (studying very…very hard) I took a trip to Zurich where I visited a poster museum. Much to my surprise the exhibit was displaying Italian poster design from Milano. Check the pics I took and keep in mind that these were all designed before Illustrator of InDesign were invented!!!!
Barilla Pasta by Erberto Carboni 1952
Sirenella by Max Huber 1946
I love the dynamic elements in this radio poster by Heinz Waibl 1959
Max Huber 1957 500 Miglia di Monza
Italia URSS by Max Huber 1966
Olivetti Poster by Anna Monika Jost 1966
Love the playfulness of this Olivetti poster by Giovanni Pintori 1950
I love how the type overlays the city map in this poster.
Max Huber 1958 Bergamo 1 Grand Premio
Max Huber
I love the color and warmth of this poster by Silvio Oppola
Salvatore Gregoriete 1969 Mare Grande Mare
I love the simple juxtaposition of image and type in this poster
Pirelli Tires Poster by Bob Noorda 1959
I love the play between the foreground and background typography. I also love that you can see through the black a bit. Nothing digital can ever simulate this printing process!
Pronto by Franco Grignani 1958
Franco Grignani 1957
Fiat Car Posters – Felix Humm 1970
Bonus!!!
I also snagged some pics of some vintage and non-vintage posters in Zurich, and northern Italy.
These last 2 posters mean a lot to me. One of the first graphic designers I was inspired by was A.M. Cassandre. In order to get accepted to the graphic design program at my school we had to go through portfolio reviews and write a lengthy paper on a poster. This was the poster I was assigned: The Nord Express! Needless to say I about shat myself when I saw the original poster in the studio of Rosmary Tissi and Sigfriend Odermatt (famous Swiss graphic designers…go look them up!)
Another famous A.M. Cassandre poster!
What’s your favorite vintage poster?
Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite (pre-computer designed) poster is!
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22 Responses to “22 Beautiful Vintage Italian Posters”
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April 16th, 2009 at 6:06 pm[...] Barilla is the compatish but I do have a soft spot for vintage design. (by Erberto Carboni 1952) More posters here. This entry was posted in Graphic design. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a [...]
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Franz Jeitz says:
These are gorgeous. I especially like the “500 migla di Monza”. Thanks for putting these together!
April 13th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Robin Cannon says:
That’s a great collection, thanks for putting them all in one place for a reference. I’ll be keeping this as a bookmark!
Vintage posters can be such a great inspiration for design. I hadn’t seen examples of Italian artwork before though.
I’d also recommend ‘Revolucion – Cuban Poster Art’ – great design collection.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:03 am
franki durbin says:
truly spectacular. Viva Italia!
April 13th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Dani McDaniel says:
I LOVE these posters! Thanks so much for putting this collection together… great inspiration!
April 13th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Stephanie says:
I love this post! I am a huge fan of Cassandre’s and vintage posters in general (I wrote a post about it . Thanks for this great post!
April 14th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Steph Adamo says:
I’m glad you posted this. I was so apathetic when we actually went there. It’s nice to get a second chance to appreciate these posters.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Kristina says:
I really like the city map poster – it looks modern and urban. The Olivetti poster is also nice – I like the pop of the cool blue shade against the warm shades. These are great for modern poster inspiration. For more vintage design, check out this post at PrintCreate.com.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:32 am
DP says:
These are awesome. Thanks.
Wishing I could go back in time and do a semester in Italy! It never even occurred to me to do that. But the time I spent there after I graduated was amazing.
Anyway… grazie!
April 15th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Lindsey says:
These posters look really nice
. I love looking at work done before the computer age. They are generally much better. Because of technology and very easy-to-use software, so many people can pass out as designers.
April 15th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Nora Reed says:
Fascinating. I love the classic, vintage look. I was not aware that this style was Italian. I have seen things redone in the same way.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Nora Brown says:
Lovely collection – I think the “pronto” telephone poster is especially clever (that’s how they answer the phone in Italy).
A. M. Cassandre is definitely French, not Italian though.
April 21st, 2009 at 6:39 am
Andrew says:
Hi, i am an italan boy… this pictures is fantastic… i know this brands…
Who wants to come in italy I can’t advise the Tuscany landscapes with truly breathtaking beautiful… try it to believe it! Bye !!!
April 25th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Andrew says:
Oops…. i have wrong… I wanted to say that the Tuscany is the best region of italy…. Sorry… Bye…
April 25th, 2009 at 4:30 am
David Perel says:
First of all, what a creative topic!
Secondly, lovely collection and inspiration!
Well done.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Don Gaines says:
I went to Florence for a semester, it was incredible. Seeing the la Renasciente poster reminded me of the coffee shop on top of the store there in Florence. It was also the only place with a rather clean public restroom. Great topic and good choices!
May 27th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Marnie B says:
These are so beautiful. Thanks for finding and posting them all!
May 27th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
John Fredrickson says:
Very nice set. Thanks for posting.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:19 am