)
Railway Art Poster Competition
04/01/12
Before the Internet, art was a major source of information and an important means of communication. This was especially the case for the railways, which developed from Victorian times. Over the past 160 years a plethora of railway posters has bombarded travellers with masses of information on trains timetables, destinations and holiday opportunities. These used to adorn stations up and down the land, with attractive images aimed at luring tourists to the most appealing towns. From the 1920s onwards, a myriad of artists were used, and all the UK Boroughs used to compete for their attention to help promote their town boldly and proudly and therefore swell the local economy.
Somerset was a major tourist spot, so that during the winter months, West Midland and London area stations used to see bright summer posters for Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Minehead and other haunts. Sadly, no poster was made for Portishead, so Pure Offices and JDF & Associates are sponsoring a competition to produce one for public display and use. With the possibility that the Portishead railway line will be open again in the not too distance future, it would be great for Portishead to have their own poster designed by a local artist. The winning entry will receive a gift voucher for 50 pounds worth or artists materials, but more importantly the winning poster will be published in volume 7 of the Poster to Poster series of definitive books on railway poster art (due in 2013). The aim is to portray Portishead in the best possible light to help to promote the proposed rail link from the new station to Bristol Temple Meads. It should show the attributes, amenities and facilities to attract people to come to Portishead and maybe to use the railway. A sample of entrants received by 18th March will also be displayed at a Railway Poster Exhibition in March (21st-24th) being organised by Pure Offices, who rent serviced offices, in their Kestrel Court, Portishead reception area. Guest-of-Honour will be Paul Atterbury from the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
Posters came in two sizes, double royals (25 inches x 40 inches) and quad royals (50inches x 40inches). This standard sizing allowed posters to be displayed in sets on standard sized hoardings. An example of each is given above: double royal on the left and quad royal on the right.
ENTRY SPECIFICATION:Posters can be produced in any medium, to fit either of the two standard sizes given above. As a rough guide, artwork should be 24 inches x 34 inches to fit a double royal and 49inches x 34 inches to fit a quad royal. The bottom 6 inches will be used for appropriate advertising (or informative) wording. This is not mandatory as the right hand poster above shows the wording within the whole painting. Many further examples can be found at www.postertoposter.co.uk and some of these may be sources for ideas and layout. The poster may be branded as Great Western Railway (GWR), British Railways (BR), Southern Railway (SR) or indeed any company today, (real or imaginary). Bright bold colours and strong imagery always work well, but not all attractive and well known posters were produced using these factors. The competition challenges the skill and graphic awareness of the artist. The essence of a good poster is to quickly attract and hold the attention of the viewer. For an entry form and further details please email kimbatchelor@pureoffices.co.uk Closing date for entries is April 10th 2012.
<<< back
>>> more news
)
