I’m back for another SIA round, and this time, Salazar over on 14 Shades of Grey (https://14shadesofgrey.wordpress.com/2022/03/28/sia-inspiration-austin-cooper/) is hosting and picked quite an interesting subject. Austin Cooper’s advertisement posters for London’s rapid transit system back in the 1920s. Need I say more? These two posters that say, “It Is Cooler Down Below” and “It Is Warmer Down Below” not only display an awesome design and layout, but also depict two opposite concepts that many of us are familiar with today.

Cooper’s posters (see the link above to see the images of them) would certainly grab people’s attention, even by today’s “screen driven” society standards. According to Cooper, “The functions of a poster are dual: to arrest the attention and then, having caught the eye of the passer-by, to deliver a message swiftly, convincingly, effectively.” (https://www.iconic-antiques.com/sold-archive/p/pair-of-1928-london-underground-posters-austin-cooper-framed?msclkid=7deb6fafb54f11ec9f5c63a96ace7201)

I totally agree with that. Posters back in those days basically did what social media and our phones do now (minus the trolls and annoying virus inducing pop-ups); grabbing your attention with color and design and informing you as you view it. Sounds very much like what I see nearly everyday with people practically glued to their devices, not even caring that they’re walking into traffic or some other dangerous situation. Their attention is, as Cooper puts it, “arrested” by the images that they see.

Seeing these posters reminds me of French artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was also well known for his poster making, particularly his Moulin Rouge: La Goulue. That image haunted me for years, as I had to study it in high school graphic design class, as I still remember it to this day. In short, posters are powerful.

Anyway, onto my outfit. This is what I came up with.

While I was aiming for the “cooler” side, with my reasoning being that I prefer cooler weather over warmer, I decided to incorporate a bit of the “warmer” side as well. But if you view each poster, each one incorporates a little of the color that’s opposite of its theme. You see a bit of orange and yellow in the cooler poster, which are often thought of as warm colors, and you see a bit of blue in the warmer poster, which is thought of as a cool color. So I guess I have both of these covered either way. I really like the dichotomy of these two images as I fall a bit along that mindset (especially lately) of being extremely one way or another. I’m not crazy. I just have a very “black and white” way of thinking. I’ve always had. And through many years of counseling that I’m slowly merging into that “middle gray” way of thinking. It’s a work-in-progress. 😉

Anway, that’s all I have for this one. Be sure to check out Salazar’s blog on Wednesday to see how everyone else interpreted these colorful pieces.

7 thoughts on “SIA Post: Austin Cooper’s Ad Posters”

  1. Thanks for stopping by, Sally and thanks for the comment! Yeah, initially I was going to go all blue, clearly showing that I’m on “Team Cool” as opposed to “Team Warm”, but thought that the red contrasted a lot better with the blue plaid, which it did!

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  2. Nice use of plaid print and layering to capture the visual vibe of the overlapping squares on the poster. A lot of us did a more clear colorblocking look, but I think the way you used your red shirt collar to overlap the plaid is brilliant!

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  3. Thank you, Terri. My plaid jacket I think is about the only thing that I have that best represents the “block” pattern in the posters. I really like how they both show a bit of gradation, similar to shading in art, as it opens up all sorts of possibilities of how to go about interpreting this.
    And thank you. I hope to be able to participate more these days and wish to participate in some of the ones that you hosts also. 🙂

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  4. Using plaid was such a brilliant way to interpret the geometric looks of these posters. I also thought that the same colors were seen in both posters so you idea of combining them really works nicely. I’m so glad seeing you back participating in SIA. Take care, Terri

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  5. Thanks so much, Shelbee! Yeah, it took me a minute to figure out how to incorporate both posters into my outfit. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do two separate outfit photos, or just the one. Remembering my blue plaid jacket was the decision maker! And I had plenty to work with for the warm colors!

    By the way, I really like how you incorporated both posters in your outfit! I’ll be sure to stop by your blog to comment!

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  7. Pingback: SIA: London Underground | 14 Shades Of Grey

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