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22 Beautiful Vintage Italian Posters

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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!

[24] Comments
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24 Responses to “22 Beautiful Vintage Italian Posters”

  1. Franz Jeitz says:

    These are gorgeous. I especially like the “500 migla di Monza”. Thanks for putting these together!


  2. 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.


  3. truly spectacular. Viva Italia!


  4. I LOVE these posters! Thanks so much for putting this collection together… great inspiration!


  5. 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!


  6. 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.


  7. 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.


  8. 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!


  9. 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.


  10. 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.


  11. 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.


  12. 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 !!! ;-)


  13. Oops…. i have wrong… I wanted to say that the Tuscany is the best region of italy…. Sorry… Bye…


  14. First of all, what a creative topic!

    Secondly, lovely collection and inspiration!

    Well done.


  15. 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!


  16. These are so beautiful. Thanks for finding and posting them all!


  17. Very nice set. Thanks for posting.


  18. spectacular! Tuscany is such a beautiful place!


  19. magnificent, the graphics look so contemporary, is there a shop in Florence where vintage posters are for sale?




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