100 Posters That Changed the World

Classic posters from the last 300 years and the stories behind them.

Posters have always been designed to seek an immediate response. From the time when paper was first affordable, the poster has been used to provoke a direct reaction, whether a public appeal, a legal threat, a call to arms, or the offer of entertainment. Newspapers might have the advantage of ubiquity in spreading the word, but a poster could be tightly targeted by its location.

Organized chronologically, 100 Posters That Changed the World charts the history of poster design from their earliest forms as a means of information communication to the more subtle visual communication of the 21st century.

As printing became cheaper, posters were used for more than just promoting the capture of local villains or announcing government decrees. Advertisements took over, citing up-and-coming events, auctions, public meetings, political rallies, sports games, lectures and...