Posters: Art and Advertising

• Art and design
• Primary Education

Posters: 

Art and Advertising

Art, Activism and Advertising

Posters: Art and Advertising

In this lesson you will...

 

• Learn about how posters are used and made. 

• Learn about different ways of sending a message

• Discover posters from the archive 

Use what you already know 

Learn some new facts

Get ready to take part

Reflect on what you have learned

When you see this symbol...

Advertise - To describe or draw attention to something (a product, service, or event) in a public way hoping to promote sales.

Key Words

Poster - Usually a large printed sheet that contains pictures and/or words and is posted in public. 

An election is a process through which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official position or job.

Politician - A person who works in politics, normally someone who was chosen by an election.

Do you have a poster in your house? What’s on it?

Have you ever seen a poster out in public? What was on it?

One of the first posters in Britain was made in 1477 – that’s over 540 years ago!

Posters

Poster from 1914

Class reflection and discussion encouraged. 

What are posters used for? 

Tell a story

Send a message

Influence someone’s views or decisions

Advertise a concert, show or event 

Promote politicians before an election

They are also used to...

Posters are traditionally used to...

How do you think posters are made or would’ve been made in the past?
Hint: Think about how you would make a poster now.

How are posters made?

They are often made on paper. Now, they are often printed off a computer and created using apps. But in the past, it was a much slower, more difficult process.

Sometimes they were painted by hand, like this one... 

Sometimes they were made the same way books were made – using old printing methods, like letterpress.

A 'Letterpress' does exactly what it says! 

When you press 3D letters (made from wood or metal) - that have ink on them (like paint) -  against paper, the result is called a 'print'. 

The person creating the poster would carefully line each letter up to make a word. Or they would use a specially made lead template (called a 'plate') to print much faster.

What is letterpress?

This is a printing plate from 1912

Optional Activity : Potato Press printing (more information in learning resource notes)

 

Why don't you try making potato press posters or images! 

They would press the paper and letters together with a very heavy machine called a 'press'. 

Photograph of presses in a letterpress workshop from 1899

Photograph of a press from 1930

Optional Activity : Potato Press printing (more information in learning resource notes)

Pro - tip - in potato press (and letterpress) everything prints back to front. 

Your print is like a mirror image of what you print. 

So if you want to use text, the letter must be back to front to print the right way around. Text must also be spelt back to front e.g. txeT = Text. 

Select the technique not commonly used in making posters

1. Printing
2. Letterpress
3. Painting
4. Woodworking

Select the common uses for posters

1. To advertise
2. To promote a politican
3. To receive feedback
4. To influence someones views

Identify and select the wrong definition

1. A poster is usually a large printed sheet with pictures and/or words .
2. An election is a process through which people vote.
3. A politician is a person who works in politics, often chosen through an election.
4. To advertise, is to create posters for decoration, they are often displayed privately.

How do we tell someone something?

 

How else? 

 

Sending a Message 

Suggested answer

By talking, using our words.

Suggested answer

You could write it down, send a letter, or send a text. 

Class reflection and discussion encouraged. 

There are some words that have clear meanings...

like yes and no.

 

And there are words that can mean multiple things...

like right (the opposite of left) and right (the opposite of wrong). 

Do images have common meanings?

Messages

Happy

Thumbs up, good, yes

Class reflection and discussion encouraged. 

What about colours, can they send a message? 

danger

             hot 

angry

             love

happy 

            bright 

hope

            peace

calm                            cold 

sad

nature

             luck 

jealousy 

             health

Colours can send many different messages, such as...

Examples from the archive

The next 3 slides have examples of posters from the National Museums NI archives. 

Look at the posters and analyse them based on your learning. 

Think of answers to the questions. 

Then click on this symbol for the answer

Archive Poster 1 

What colours are used in this poster? What do the colours suggest? 

What do the images suggest?

What do you think the purpose of this poster was? 

Why do you think this?

This poster is black on a yellow background. The yellow could mean peace or hope. 

The poster features a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak. This is a very common sign for peace. 

It was a political election poster for the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP), created for the Westminster Election of June 1970. 

The party’s election posters featured a dove of peace, and emphasises the need to be a good neighbour.

This poster was made in 1970

Archive Poster 2

What colours are used in this poster? What do the colours suggest? 

What do the images suggest?

What do you think the purpose of this poster was? 

Why do you think this?

The colours used are green, purple, white and black. 

Green, purple and white are the colours used in the Suffragette campaign which gained women the right to vote, this poster was to promote a women's political party. The purple represents loyalty, white represents purity and green represents hope. 

The images show dinosaurs in suits and ties. They are used as cartoons of politicians, suggesting that they live in the past. 

It was a political election poster for Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC). Two of their politicians were successfully elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

This is a poster from 1996.

Archive Poster 3

What colours are used in this poster? What do the colours suggest? 

What do the images suggest?

What do you think the purpose of this poster was? 

Why do you think this?

The colours used are red, yellow, black and blue. 

Red suggests danger and heat, while blue suggests safety. 

The image of flames or fire suggest damage and danger. 999 is the number for the emergency services in Northern Ireland (police, fire service and ambulance). The flames are coming from the 999, showing what would happen if you leave it too late to call. 

This was an official Government of Northern Ireland poster, produced in 1971.

The poster's function was to spread a message promoting safety, and encouraging the public to report anything suspicious.

Made in 1971

What message would you send?

Have a think and note down: 

If you were to make a poster... 

What would it say?

What colours would you use?

What images would you use?

Now, use your creativity and what you have learned to design and make a poster!

Encourage personal reflection. 

Activity: Using collage, lettering, paint etc. make a poster based on this reflection.

There is also a worksheet in learning resource notes that can be used to create a simplified poster. 

What was the most surprising thing you learned in this lesson?

What did you think of this lesson?

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Next Steps

- Visit the Ulster Museum to learn more about their poster collection. 

- Browse National Museums NI's digital collection at https://www.nationalmuseumsni.org/collections 

- Use what you've learned and the resources provided to make your own posters!