psychedelic poster design

When I read Meggs section on psychedelic poster design in the 1960's a few different images flashed in my mind.  The first image was of my brothers room when he was a teenager when blacklights, rock music, and fuzzy psychedelic posters filled his room.

Unlike the concert posters of the 1960's this one is mass-produced and only made to look like the posters of the 1960's.  The bright colors and font style, as well as the reference to psychedelic drugs matches the feel of the posters of the same design in the 60's.

I was also reminded of living in San Francisco and still seeing this culture all around me alive in many of the little shops in the Haight-Ashbury.  I have read many books about the psychedelic culture and every once in a while I will see a poster for a concert from the 1960's hanging up in a bar or bookstore in San Francisco.  Many of the posters are for concerts at the Fillmore and I have seen many for the Grateful Dead.

The Grateful Dead and the Merry Pranksters were both major contributors to the artist movement in San Francisco in the 60's.  The artwork in the above poster has a very art nouveau feel to it with the use of flowing curves.  It is lacking in vibrant colors but has the same eye-catching font style shared by most of the posters in this movement.

 Posters from this era have a very distinctive use of fonts and warped lettering.  The lettering is its own art.  Every time I see posters with this font style I automatically think of the 1960's.  The vibrant colors remind me of day-glo, also a major influence on art at the time.  These posters are very distinctive and always make me feel uplifted.  Like something fun is about to happen.  They are just fun to look at.  Even though this was a short lives movement with few contributors I feel it had an important impact on the culture and gathering people together.  I hope someday to see more modern poster styles encompass and symbolize a culture the way these posters did.