Creative ideas expressed in a wide range of stylistic idioms from the world of graphic art—from students’ poster projects to commissioned work by established graphic designers—come together to form a feast for the eyes in the exhibition accompanying the competition 100 BEST POSTERS 19: Germany Austria Switzerland.

The exhibition reinforces the relevance of the printed poster as antidote to the all-pervasive sensory overload emanating from social media channels. The appeal of this year’s winning projects lies in their image-based use of typography as an integrative component of the design process—on the one hand as playful, decorative element in harmonious interplay with the subject, and on the other as purely aesthetic stylistic device enhancing the legibility of the poster’s message.

A total of 2 247 posters from 684 entrants were put forward for this year’s competition, whose results are being presented in the MAK for the 15th time. The 100 winning posters were selected by an international jury, chaired by Julia Kahl (Karlsruhe) and including Michel Bouvet (Paris), Benjamin Buchegger (Vienna), Götz Gramlich (Heidelberg), and Isabel Seiffert (Zurich). 45 winning posters and poster series came from Germany, 52 from Switzerland, and 3 from Austria.