Poster Recipes: Poster with the lowercase “p” by Peter Bankov
This is the first post in the new Recipe series, dedicated to getting an inside look into the practices, processes, and routines of some of the most incredible talents around the world.
Peter Bankov is a man of many things. Founder and creative director of Design Depot — one of the leading design studios in Russia — that’s Bankov. Publisher and editor-in-chief of [Kak) — the first Russian magazine on graphic design — this is him as well. Winner of numerous awards in Italy, US, and Russia — that is also him. Artist whose art is in private collections and museums in the USA, Germany, Netherlands, France, and Finland — Bankov again.
He is all those things and more, but most of all Peter Bankov is the man of the poster. He is a true proponent of the art. He is almost addicted to posters. So much so that for the last 9 years, he has been keeping a creative diary of sorts — he literally makes a poster a day. This evergrowing collection of artworks has now exploded into a treasure trove of over 1000 posters.
Poster Recipes presents posters from Peter Bankov’s art diary, as well as some other works, made for poster competitions, art exhibits, and cultural events.
“My poster is simply my way of communicating with the world, my world.”
Ingredients
low-cost paper
acrylics
cheap brushes (1 euro per piece)
two cameras–one film and one digital
a studio in Prague (optional)
Method (told by Peter Bankov)
I do not have an established routine for “poster making”, but I do have a few typical steps that I take every time I design a poster. The first thing I do is I “switch off” my brains and cease analytical thinking; I do not look for a sensible answer, an “appropriate” metaphor, or whatever else is usually done in the world of the “Poster-With-The-Capital-P”.
My poster is simply my way of communicating with the world, my world. It is a personal and emotional sentiment, a creative reflection on things which concern me deeply. A sentiment that isn’t logical, but rather an emotional one, it’s more of a feeling, like wearing a girl’s overcoat, where buttons are on the “wrong” side. I’m not trying to save the world or scream out loud against injustice, I’m simply entering my personal asylum. I stay there for a while, in my apartment, alone with my materials — low-cost paper, acrylic and cheap brushes for 1 euro per piece. I love my Prague studio. It was once home to Tristan Tsar a French futurist who, according to legends, came here almost a hundred years ago, lured by the great love of his life.
I walk around Prague with two cameras in my bag, one film and one digital. I photograph architecture, graffiti, street artists’ tags, old junk by the garbage bins, combs with hair stuck in its teeth of people I will never know, old floor lamps and bags full of trash. These things are my inspirations, and they are also elements of my posters. I’m simply glad to be one with the poster. And, I hope, the feeling is mutual.
Olga is an exhibition curator and graphic designer residing in Los Angeles, California. Having a passion for the graphic arts, Olga Severina founded PosterTerritory initiative that became a launching platform for contemporary art shows and poster exhibitions in the US and abroad. Under its umbrella, she curated graphic art campaigns, which tackled a variety of social issues and featured artworks by some of the biggest names in the international design community.
