Progressively reduced to the final version

Known as the Beggarstaffs, the two British artists and brothers-in-law William Nicholson and James Pryde became friends while in art school and attained respectable reputations as painters before beginning their brief careers as graphic designers in 1894. By using cut paper and lithography, they reduced their images to elementary outlines and flat color areas. The partnership lasted from 1894 to 1899, and produced illustrations, signs and mainly posters. Unfortunately, they were able to find only a few clients, and no more than a dozen of their poster designs were in fact printed. In spite of this, the posters of the Beggarstaffs would soon be a source of inspiration for many designers in Europe and the United States.
Lucian Bernhard’s 1906 design for Priester matches initiated a fundamental transformation in the European approach to advertising posters. The winning entry in a Priester design competition, it showed only two matchsticks and the name Priester on a plain background. Berhnard began with a far more complicated design, replete with dancing girls, a burning cigar, an ashtray, and a a tablecloth. The poster was then progressively reduced to the final version. Only eighteen years old and with no art background, Bernhard inspired an entire generation of poster artists. With an emphasis on lucidity and legibility, this style would become known as the “Plakatstil” (which simply means “poster style” in German).
The Berlin printer Hollerbaum & Schmidt understood the significance of the new Plakatstil and gave commissions to some of the designers using this approach. In addition to Bernhard, these included Hans Rudi Erdt and the Austrian-born Julius Klinger.
Undoubtedly, the leading Plakatstil poster artist was the Munich designer Ludwig Hohlwein. Although he was beholden to Bernhard and the Beggarstaffs, the decorative patterns and nuances of color and shade in his elegant posters place them in their own special realm, and his urbane style would have a major impact on European posters design.
Widely utilized by both the Allies and Central Powers, posters were vital propaganda tools during World War I. As part of the war effort, they were used for fund-raising, recruitment, increasing industrial production, the conservation of resources, and volunteer initiatives. It was the largest marketing operation in history: In the United States alone more than 2,500 designs and 20 million posters were printed. Some were blatantly sentimental, such as the British poster “Daddy, what did YOU do during the Great War?” designed by Saville Lumley. Others were more direct, such as James Montgomery Flagg’s 1917 poster of Uncle Sam pointing an admonishing finger at a potential recruit. German designers such as Bernhard, Klinger, Gipkins, Erdt, and Hohlwein all rose to the occasion and created immensely effective posters. Their designs contrasted sharply with the more traditional illustrative approach seen in posters for the Allies, and reflected the innovations of the Vienna Secession and the Plakatstil.

uit: The poster : 1,000 posters from Toulouse-Lautrec to Sagmeister - Cees W. de Jong (ed.)