#design

On Polish movie posters

A framed poster for the film Powiększenie (Blow-Up) by Michelangelo Antonioni features a portrait made of small black, red, and purple dots. The poster rests against a white wall, above clutter including snacks and papers.

My friend Charlie read this article (The Insane History of Polish Movie Posters) the other day and ended up sending me a print of one of them, because he knew I’d like it, and he was obviously right. I was so excited to display it I whacked it on the nearest available surface, hence why it’s currently hiding behind M&S vouchers. I didn’t clock this initially, I was so taken in by the colours, but from the top of the stairs (and a little bit in this picture too) it looks like a face. It’s great.

A surreal, abstract poster for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. It depicts distorted, merging human faces with exaggerated features, skeletal elements, and jagged shapes. The text is in Polish, with dramatic, expressive lines and muted colors.

I promise not to turn this into a Polish Poster Blog, but another one of my favourites is the poster for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Franciszek Starowieyski. I have a print of it somewhere. I’ll level with you – it’s quite ugly! You’d think one of the keystones of good design is that the item is pleasing to look at, and this is anything but, so how exhilarating that an artist has the freedom to create something which doesn’t conform to that expectation? I think it catches your attention, which makes it very effective nevertheless. For a start, when I saw it on eBay I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I purchased it.

Here’s the article, and I recommend reading it if only to find out the fascinating reason behind why communist Poland had such a vibrant movie poster design culture.

The Insane History of Polish Movie Posters – sabukaru
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Assorted Shrewsbury, 2024

A tall, gray concrete building with narrow vertical windows lines a stone-paved sidewalk. Several people walk in the distance, and the sky above is bright blue with scattered clouds. Black bollards and a colorful pole are along the sidewalk.
A close-up view of a textured concrete wall with evenly spaced vertical grooves. The concrete surface is rough and gray, and the grooves create a repetitive striped pattern across the image. The lighting highlights the texture and depth of the grooves.
A tall red-brick clock tower rises above a modern, curved building with black vertical fins and large windows. Below, there’s an “Age UK” charity shop at street level. Two people walk past; the sky is cloudy and a streetlamp stands nearby.
A street scene with people walking and cars parked in front of colorful buildings. The buildings include white and pink facades with large glass windows; signs read Apollo Nails Studio and Rhi Rhi. The sky is mostly blue with some clouds.
A large, historic stone railway station with a clock tower sits under a partly cloudy sky. Several chimneys and ornate details top the building. Cars are parked outside, and people walk near the entrance. A grassy embankment is visible in the foreground.
Entrance to a building with glass and wooden doors, a sign above reading Welcome to Shrewsbury. People are visible inside, and outside there are stone tiles. No smoking signs are posted on the doors. Reflections show a street scene with vehicles.
A large yellow circle sign with a swimming figure and three blue wavy lines is mounted on a beige tiled wall with a horizontal red stripe near the top. The symbol represents a swimming pool or aquatic center.

Some bits from Shrewsbury [12/02/24 + 04/08/24]. I was planning to do Sheffield but got waylaid by the sight of the market hall in my photo library.

From top to bottom:

The side of the Lloyds Bank building + detail shot. I don’t have a good picture but the front is also gorgeous. I love the bulkiness a bank building warrants.

The curvaceous exterior of the Market Hall. Like all market halls, it’s yet to ever be open when I’m there, so the interior will remain a mystery (although there is a viewing platform you can go up).

A colourful row of shops.

Shrewsbury Railway Station, built in 1848, is absolutely not modernist, but I found the wooden doors with the Rail Alphabet sign above absolutely charming.

And finally, a logo on The Quarry Swimming & Fitness Centre, another one of my weaknesses.

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Shrewsbury is a very nice market town with plenty of modernist icons to look at, more so than I’ve included here, it’s well worth a visit!

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