56 of the best poster designs

Jaws / London 2012
(Image credit: Roger Kastel / IOC)

While screens might often dominate in today's world, with seemingly endless streams of imagery, the poster remains a powerful medium to communicate and provoke.

Posters as a means of communication really took off through advertising and promotional posters in the 1870s. Initially, designs were black and white and largely text-based, but the introduction of Jules Cheret's three-stone lithographic printing process in around 1880 let to the development of striking, colourful designs.

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