Poster Modernism: INTL and the radical world of posters

Eleven years ago, two graphic design students noticed an opportunity for Scotland’s design community. Beth Wilson and James Gilchrist, having gone to design festivals around the world, realised we needed one of our own. With the wealth of design studios, educational institutions and creative people, Scotland doesn’t want for talent, but INTL was born from the desire to create something large-scale to bring everyone together. And they were absolutely right, with INTL proving itself year on year as a vital part of Scotland’s design infrastructure. The festival has welcomed over 250,000 participants through its doors, through its star-studded programme of talks, workshops and Q&As with cutting edge design talent, hailing from around the world.

While Scotland’s graphic designers rub shoulders with the niche glitterati of the industry, an exhibition showcasing a medium much more humble ticks along in the background – the poster exhibition. It's hardly humble in its scale, as up to 200 posters from thousands of submissions around the world find themselves on the walls of The Pyramid in Glasgow, culminating in a competition where the top three entries are awarded a cash prize. Being walk-in, free, and open for nearly the whole month of November, it’s also the most accessible, public facing event of the festival.

So why posters? And what even is a poster, in our eyes-locked-screenwards, five second attention span brains. Does anyone even look at them? Of course, that’s exactly the point. Gilchrist tells us: “A poster can be anything, as long as it intends to communicate something… on paper, on a screen, on a plinth, on a wall, even in the sky.” He sees posters as a foundation of design – and not just to promote events and missing cats: “They’re also platforms of expression… places where artists, designers, creatives, anybody really, can articulate a vision, express themselves, and contribute to a cause or movement they believe in.

“I suppose all posters have a shelf life,” he explains. “They’re usually designed for a transient moment or product, which means they have to reflect something happening right now. Lots of posters are designed with longevity in mind as a piece of art, and some do go on to become collectable or cultural icons, but posters are usually modest in format. Even so, they can symbolise things that are much bigger – for ideas and indicators of culture and the condition of society.”

Visitors can see for themselves that the posters of INTL’s exhibition are undeniably art pieces. “I think people are usually quite stunned by the tsunami of visuals they’re forced to look at. It’s quite an overwhelming experience, taking in so many radical designs. It can be disorientating, maybe confusing, but also interesting and enlightening. Some things take a while to understand, some are immediately recognisable – or funny, or confusing – but all are food for thought.

Poster World, AR Exhibition. Image courtesy of Nam Hyun, Sebastian Andre and INTL. 

“We try to offer a diverse, well-rounded collection of posters that has something for everybody. Part of what we look for when we’re curating the work is posters that challenge the way people think.”

And it’s not just the posters that stand out – INTL has come up with some equally exciting ways to exhibit the posters. “To let people around the world access the posters anytime, we also created an online gallery called Olympia. It mirrors a classic white cube gallery space – familiar context, unfamiliar content. People can find extra information about the works there, and also see animated work in its native environment, on screen.

“After that, one of our collaborators, Nam Hyun, asked why we were showing posters in a white gallery when usually they’re seen on the street. So, with Nam and Sebastian Andre, we created a new AR app that allows posters to be viewed anywhere, on weird and wonderful frames. It takes them out of the gallery and onto the street or out into nature. It lets you see them in a new light and in a new world.”

In the eleven years since the first exhibition, INTL has seen changes to submissions which reflect the taste, culture, values and economics of the times they’re created in. But a thread of consistency is the impact the competition has, to create a more connected global design community. “We hope the poster exhibitions inform and influence the local community by challenging established ideas, habits, and thinking and connects Scottish creatives and designers with people around the world, creating long-standing relationships.”

With the collection of thousands of posters INTL has amassed in their archive, it’s also a gift to designers of the future. With submissions from over 110 countries, the breadth of their collection reminds me of the frozen underground seed library in Svalbard, that in case of the apocalypse wiping out all of our plants, those left behind will be able to grow crops again. Gilchrist laughs: “Imagine trying to understand a civilisation based on the poster collection. That would be wild.”

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INTL Festival runs from 6-25 Nov in locations across Glasgow
INTERNATIONAL POSTER EXHIBITION runs on weekdays between 7-25 Nov (excluding some dates) at The Pyramid at Anderston, Glasgow. See website for more details of dates and times
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