The earliest form of a poster was through the use of Lithography. This is when marks are made on a piece of metal or stone. The surface is dampened before greasy ink is rolled over it. The only thing the ink will bind to is the greasy marks made by the artist. The rest of the will be repelled by the water. The slate and the paper are pushed through a scraper press to produce the print. Many early posters used a select few amount of colours. This is especially seen in the posters promoting the Communist regime because of the limited paints that were available.
This is an exceptionally iconic poster created to advertise the communist regime:
Posters had a very large influence when it came to spreading political opinions and were especially used when promoting the idea of signing up to the war. This is linked to propaganda and how the posters would display the enemy to be beasts and monsters that will destroy your land and everything it stands for.
1820's - 1900's
At this point in time posters were seen as more of a fine art and were put into galleries as artwork. Here is an example of a very early poster from the Victorian times which would have used the process of Lithography to produce the poster displayed below.
If posters were not created through the method of Lithography then they were most likely produced through painting. The posters that were painted were the reason why posters were depicted as being a fine art.
The use of posters would dramatically change within the next 15 years due to the start of the First World War.
1914's - 1919's
It was at this time that posters gained a new purpose, propaganda. Posters were made to support the war efforts. The posters would vary from supporting civilians signing up serve in the war, to depicting the enemy as animals.
It was at this time that millions of posters were being mass produced to try and rally up the people to fight for their country, and it is said that this was the biggest advertising movement in history.
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