Poster

A poster is any large piece of printed paper which hangs from a wall or other such surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly textual. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and convey information. Posters may be used for many purposes, and they are a frequent tool of advertisers (particularly of events, musicians and films), propagandists, protestors and other groups trying to communicate a message. Posters are also used for reproductions of artwork, particularly famous works. Another type of poster are educational posters, which may be about a particular subject for educational purposes. Related to these are academic or conference are generally low-cost compared to original artwork. Many people also collect posters, and some famous posters have themselves become quite valuable. The most conventional size for graphical posters tends to be around 24 by 36 inches, though posters may be nearly any size. Much smaller printed advertisements are typically known as handbills or flyers.

Notable poster artists

Róbert Berény (1887-1954)
Paul Berthon (1872-1909)
Mihály Bíró (1886-1948)
Sándor Bortnyik (1893-1976)
Firmin Bouisset (1859-1925)
Roger Broders (1883-1957)
Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942)
Jean Carlu (1900-1997)
Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1901-1968)
Jules Chéret (1836-1932)
Echo Chernik (1973-present)
Paul Colin (1892-1985)
Jean Gabriel Domergue (1889-1962)
Charles Gesmar (1900-1928)
Eugčne Grasset (1845-1917)
Jules-Alexandre Grun (1868-1934)
David Lance Goines (1945-present)
Albert Guillaume (1873-1942)
György Konecsni (1908-1970)
Privat Livemont (1861-1936)
Alfons Mucha (1860-1939)
Jean de Paleologue (1860-1942)
Théophile Steinlen (1859-1923)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
John Gilroy (1898-1985)

Contemporary poster artists

Akiyama Takashi
Ferenc Baráth
Michal Batory
Michel Bouvet
Stephan Bundi
Seymour Chwast
André François
Shigeo Fukuda
Milton Glaser
Roman Kalarus
Dóra Keresztes
Alain Le Quernec
Uwe Loesch
Andrey Logvin
Pekka Loiri
Joao Machado
Igor Maistrovsky
Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Kazumasa Nagai
German Montalvo
Rafal Olbinski
István Orosz
Kari Piippo
Wieslaw Rosocha
Vladislav Rostoka
Wiktor Sadowski
U.G. Sato
Jan Sawka
Waldemar Swierzy
Niklaus Troxler
David Tartakover
Wang Xu
Stanley Mouse

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poster