Rick Poynor

Rick Poynor|Essays

Saul Leiter and the Typographic Fragment

In Saul Leiter's color photographs, the fragment is infinitely more mysterious and suggestive than the whole.

Rick Poynor|Essays

On Display: The Kirkland Museum

If I had to pick just one Denver museum to revisit, it would be the fabulous Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art.

Rick Poynor|Exposure

Exposure: Woman Mailing a Letter by Clifton R. Adams

The spell of vintage color

Rick Poynor|Essays

Man in a Bowler: Illustration after Magritte

By copying Magritte’s subject matter and method, illustrators ended up making a great artist look hackneyed.

Rick Poynor|Essays

In Response to An Anatomy of Uncriticism

Alexandra Lange’s article in Print about the sacred cows of graphic design sidesteps the issue it raises.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Career Prospects in the Pain Business

Freedom from Torture’s “torture recruitment” ads deliver perfectly calculated moments of cognitive dissonance.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Jan van Toorn: The World in a Calendar

Jan van Toorn’s provocative 1972/73 calendar for the printer Mart.Spruijt has been reprinted by a Dutch design company.

Rick Poynor|Essays

What Does Critical Writing Look Like?

A report on work by the first graduates from the Royal College of Art’s Critical Writing in Art & Design MA.

Rick Poynor|Essays

The Never-ending Struggle against Clutter

Clutter and design are inseparable as concepts because clutter is the negation of design.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Socialism and Modernity: A Hidden History

A new book documents the unfamiliar history of socialism and modernity in graphic design from former Yugoslavia.

Rick Poynor|Essays

A Dictionary of Surrealism and the Graphic Image

An alphabetical guide to graphic designers influenced by Surrealism and to some key Surrealist concepts.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Utopian Image: Politics and Posters

By celebrating political posters for their design do we collude with the established order they seek to challenge?