The winners of Graphic Matters biennial poster competition have been selected. This year, over 1500 posters were submitted, from over 65 countries.
In contrast to most international poster competitions, Graphic Matters challenge designers to create a new poster based on a specific theme. This year’s theme is Information Superpower. The assignment was to visualise current and urgent matters by means of an infographic, data visualisation, map or manual. An assignment that doesn’t often occur in practice, which made it a challenge that can possibly lead to a whole new genre of posters.
“By utilising Information Graphics to draw attention to certain topics, data can be the beginning of a dialogue, instead of a conclusion, which is how so many media and analysts are using it now.”
– Dennis Elbers, Director of Graphic Matters
Topics such as privacy, big data, climate change and human rights are well-represented among the entries. There are also posters that give insight into the personal lives of designers. Designers visualised in a recognisable way situations such as dealing with ADHD or what percentage of clothing in a wardrobe is actually worn.
The 50 winning posters come from 25 different countries, including Iran, Thailand, Italy, Russia, Poland, Mexico, Korea, France and of course The Netherlands. The selection shows that some urgent matters are of global resonance. It also shows that there are many cultural differences in how a designer approaches and visualises these matters.
For the first time, Graphic Matters accepted also moving posters. Among the 50 winning posters, there are six moving posters. Those posters will be shown on screens as short 10 second animations. The six winning moving posters will also be displayed during DEMO festival at Amsterdam Central Station on November 9th.
The winning posters will be exhibited at the square next to the Stokvishallen at Belcrumweg. The exhibition can be visited for free. The posters will also be printed to order during Graphic Matters, limited to 10 prints per poster.
Additionally, five international winners will also receive a travel budget to visit Graphic Matters and to exchange knowledge with local designers
The winners
The winning posters are made by Brittney Malpeli (AU), Anne De Boeck (BE), WePlayDesign (CH), Chen Qiu, Gao Xin, Li Zhang, Mengyao Luo, ShenHui Meng (CN), Lukas Großmann, Rebecca Lutz (DE), Isabel de Urquia Lara (ES), Charlie Thomas, Charline Finster, Louis Souêtre (FR), Anastasia Melandinou (GR), Naufan Noordyanto (ID), Parastoo Heydari Azad (IR), Andrea Meloni, Claudio Vitiello, Daniele Morganti, Michal Tadeusz Golanski (IT), Koji Matsumoto (JP), Minjoo Kim, Youngwook Nam, Jooyoun Sun (KR), Karim Shehimi (LB), Joelis Aškinis (LT), Naandeyé García Villegas (MX), Guijt & Meijers, David van Arragon, Eline Schipperen & Magdalena Dużej, Mister Gruesome, Leonie Schepers, Liz Klaver, Marit Gijsberts, Naoko Deriu, Natisha Engel, Niels Vrijdag, YURR.studio (NL), Christian Azzouni (AT), Victor Soma (PL), Eduard Zimovtsev, Maria Bublik (RU), Zena Adhami (SY), Jie-Fei Yang (TW), Thiti Luang (TH), Carilla Karahan (TR), Craig Berry, Lewis Fraser (UK) and Jon Letourneau (US).
Check out a few of the winning posters below and see all the winning posters on a gif on Graphic Matters Facebook page. :
