Punc’t Art

( ) Significant Aside
by Seymour Chwast

Sometimes old is new again, especially when discovered on the web. This is from a 2005 exhibit, but the images – still available on The Kean Review‘s web site – are timelessly fun. From HOW Design:

GRAMMAR RULES. PERIOD.

For David Schimmel, president and creative director of And Partners, one of the best parts of Punc’t was getting to play client. It was like Christmas morning as each poster hit his desk and he uncovered another top designer’s interpretation of a punctuation mark. “It was a delight to get them,” he says. “I had a different response to each one.” When all 24 creations were in hand, Schimmel put together an invitation for the Punc’t reception and charity auction, as well as a catalog to showcase the posters.

These promotional pieces have a high-end, art gallery feel that’s clean and sophisticated. And since Schimmel didn’t want to favor one style over another, the invitation doesn’t include any poster images at all. The catalog, on the other hand, makes the posters the hero, giving each work its own page to shine. “On the whole, paper promos aren’t the memorable, savable, industry-influencing works that they were a decade or two ago,” says judge Bryn Mooth. “This one is.”

When it came time to arrange the posters within the catalog, Schimmel tried alphabetizing the pieces by each designer’s last name and was pleasantly surprised at how well everything fell into place. As luck would have it, he’d assigned James Victore the period, giving his poster of a cowboy riding off into the sunset the perfect spot to declare, “The end.”

POSTER DESIGNERS Seymour Chwast, Alexander Isley, Michael Bierut, Alexander Gelman, Stefan Sagmeister, Sam Potts, Aimee Sealfon-Eng, Woody Pirtle, Paula Scher, James Victore, Michael Ian Kaye, Carin Goldberg, David Schimmel, Scott Stowell, Steff Geissbuhler, Mirko Ilic, Chip Kidd, Steven Brower, Kent Hunter, Emily Oberman, Bonnie Siegler, Todd St. John, Robert Valentine, Marcos Chin, Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich

See the full display of posters here on The Kean Review.