This summer, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives opened Dynamic Design: Transforming Posters at Hoover, a new exhibition that explores the potential for creative use of archival material. The central example includes details of posters from the collection used as cover art for the Hoover Digest. Posters covering a wide range of topics are on display in the Lou Henry Hoover Gallery in Hoover Tower at Stanford University through December 20, 2023.
Propaganda posters proliferated throughout the 20th century to promote values, ideals, and patriotism. Mixing text and graphic design, they are an ideal tool to disseminate a message, yet they have also come to be revered for their artistic merits as well. The graphic art of posters, regardless of original messaging, is often repurposed, and the poster collection at the Library & Archives offers a vast source of amazing graphics that catch the eye and spark the imagination.
Dynamic Design will present the transformative potential of archival material by pairing the Hoover Digest covers with the original posters that inspired their design. In addition to those on display, a number of posters featured on the cover of the Hoover Digest have been digitized and are available to explore through a digital touch table in the gallery. Hoover Digest is but one example of how posters, when repurposed for a new audience, can produce eye-opening results. The digitized materials from this project will be featured in an online exhibition and eventually added to the Library & Archives Digital Collections, which can be freely accessed globally.
“For more than 25 years, the Hoover Digest has relied on the ‘persuasive images’ of Hoover’s Poster Collection to create covers that draw readers into history,” said Charles Lindsey, executive editor of the Hoover Digest. “This hoard of visual material continues to spark new insights at a time when the storytelling power of visual media is greater than ever.” Lindsey and his design team regularly explore the collections online and in the Library & Archives reading room to identify materials suitable to use as cover art for each quarterly issue. Excerpts from Hoover Digest featured in the exhibition contain editorial observances on the historical and current references to the original works.
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives holds more than 100,000 posters, a collection that continues to grow. They predominantly originate from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia/Soviet Union, and France, though the collection includes posters from more than eighty countries. Over 33,000 posters are available online, with more continuing to be added.
“The Poster Collection at Hoover constitutes what is likely the largest known collection of international political posters in the United States,” said Eric Wakin, director of the Library & Archives. “Over half of the posters date from the era of World War I and the 1920s. The Hoover Institution Library & Archives’ Dynamic Design exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to examine these posters and reflect upon their original purpose and how they resonate with audiences today.”
Dynamic Design is free to the public and can be viewed in person in Hoover Tower at Stanford University. Visitors may also view concurrent exhibitions featured in the Hoover Tower rotunda and gallery spaces.
Exhibition Dates and Location
June 28–December 20, 2023
Lou Henry Hoover Gallery, Hoover Tower, Stanford University
Open to the public weekdays, 10am–4pm. Go to Visit Hoover Tower to learn about schedule changes due to holidays, Stanford football games, or other events.
Exhibition Organization and Curators
The exhibition is organized and curated by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
For more information visit Dynamic Design: Transforming Posters at Hoover
