ON POSTERS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1861, 22 September 1913, Page 8

ON POSTERS.

INSTITUTE CONTEST REVIEWED. : Regarding' tlie poster competition Mr. Charles Haines, who was sole judge, states': —"I have to report the result of judgment in tho Pictorial Poster Competition instituted in connection with the forthcoming Wellington Historical Pageant. Altogether, there reached me twenty-three designs. To my mind only three of these stood out conspicuously. I have awarded the first prize, five guineas, to poster No. 23, which I have,, since ascertained, is,the production of Miss Lois Thane, Wellington Technical School. I ought to perhaps, at this stage'that in not a single instance was there any indication to mo of the identity of the artists—either directly or indirectly— before my deoision was made. The second prize of two guineas I have divided between posters No 18, by Ilott's Studio, Wellington, and No, 4, by Mr. A. W. Mahood, Wellington—a guinea each. There is one further submission which calls for a word of exceptional recognition. I refer to No. 7, by Mr. W. IV Stokoe, Feilding. This-pictorial poster, although one which would'not be accept able to many people .on account of its Vivid orange background, possesses distinctive eye-catching quality. I have personally bestowed upon this production a special prize of one 'guinea m acknowledgment of its decided advertising value as a striking poster. After these come No. 19, an ambitious work of art; and No. 13 and No. 14— tlio former quite an elaborate and meritorious composition in its way, seriously marred by what might easily be mistaken for an automatic .carpet-sweeper in one corner; the latter of a decorative nature and of very fair design, perhaps, a little too symmetrical. Finally, in this group, is No. 20, a. picture conventional in most recolour and topic —and of rather too mixed and confusing a style. Next, brief 'allusion must be made to No. 16, .which has a catchiness .about it that would please some people. It portrays Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey, the, presentment having taken place at a time prior to their estrangement. King: Hal has evidently got off what he considers to be, an excellent joke, and Wolsey sacrifices dignity under the impression .t'hat that is the right move. No.-17, although a someiyhat crude artist, deserves a paragraph to himself, because of the painstaking ingenuity displayed in his production. This competitor 'has in some respects taken more tro.ublft than anybody else. He has sent in quite a decent bit of posterwork, considering that he has proceeded on altogether wrong linesr—not only lias -some of- the, pictorial relief been pasted on, but even the lettering seems to have been similarly attached."