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World Wildlife Fund Presents Yanomamo

Poster
1983 (designed and printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is the work of celebrated English poster artist Tom Eckersley (1914 - 1997). It was designed and printed in 1983 for the World Wildlife Fund to advertise a musical in London called 'Yanomamo'. The Yanomamo is the oldest Indian tribe living in the Amazon rainforest, and the musical raised awareness about the deforestation and urbanisation threatening their culture. Eckersley's design perfectly captures the innocence and simplicity associated with the tribe's way of life by depicting the young Yanomamo girl in bright, block colours.

All of Eckersley's posters demonstrate his ability to convey a simple, direct message through economical and effective design. His style is instantly recognisable - unlike other contemporary poster designers who introduced photography, airbrush, perspective and depth to their works, Eckersley favoured bold, flat areas of colour, reducing figures and objects to flat geometrical shapes. As he explains in his book 'Poster Design' (1954):

"The good designer can achieve far more with two colours than the poor one with twelve, since it is not the number of colours you use but the way in which you employ them which governs the result."

He was inspired by the striking, often abstract images by poster designers A.M. Cassandre and Edward Mcknight Kauffer.

After graduating from Salford Art School, Eckersley moved to London in 1934 to become a freelance poster designer. He collaborated with Eric Lombers on a number of commissions for London Transport, Shell and the BBC. During the Second World War, Eckersley worked independently for public service agencies including the Ministry of Information and the General Post Office.

In 1957 he became Head of the Design Department at the London College of Printing for twenty years. He then took early retirement in order to pursue his own work full-time. As well as producing posters for the World Wildlife Fund, Eckersley also designed works for the National Business Calendar, the Imperial War Museum, a set of film star posters and posters advertising his own exhibitions. One of his most popular designs, a Concorde platform panel at Heathrow underground station, is also in the V&A collection.

Throughout his career, Eckersley focused his attention on posters and is considered the last full-time English poster designer. This poster was bequeathed by Phillip Granville.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleWorld Wildlife Fund Presents Yanomamo (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour offset lithograph.
Brief description
Tom Eckersley; 'Yanomamo'; Britain; 1983
Physical description
Simple and graphic illustration of a tribal Indian girl wearing large yellow earrings.
Dimensions
  • Height: 77.5cm
  • Width: 53.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • WORLD WILDLIFE FUND PRESENTS / YANOMAMO / A Musical Entertainment by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon / with the musicians and choir of St Augustine's R.C / High School Billington Blackburn and David Attenborough / Logan Hall 20 Bedford Way WC1 25th June 7 30pm / Tickets Bloomsbury Theatre Gordon St WC1 Tel 01 387 9629 (Main text in black. Top left.)
  • ECKERSLEY 83 (Artist's signature, bottom right.)
Credit line
Accepted by H M Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2007
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is the work of celebrated English poster artist Tom Eckersley (1914 - 1997). It was designed and printed in 1983 for the World Wildlife Fund to advertise a musical in London called 'Yanomamo'. The Yanomamo is the oldest Indian tribe living in the Amazon rainforest, and the musical raised awareness about the deforestation and urbanisation threatening their culture. Eckersley's design perfectly captures the innocence and simplicity associated with the tribe's way of life by depicting the young Yanomamo girl in bright, block colours.

All of Eckersley's posters demonstrate his ability to convey a simple, direct message through economical and effective design. His style is instantly recognisable - unlike other contemporary poster designers who introduced photography, airbrush, perspective and depth to their works, Eckersley favoured bold, flat areas of colour, reducing figures and objects to flat geometrical shapes. As he explains in his book 'Poster Design' (1954):

"The good designer can achieve far more with two colours than the poor one with twelve, since it is not the number of colours you use but the way in which you employ them which governs the result."

He was inspired by the striking, often abstract images by poster designers A.M. Cassandre and Edward Mcknight Kauffer.

After graduating from Salford Art School, Eckersley moved to London in 1934 to become a freelance poster designer. He collaborated with Eric Lombers on a number of commissions for London Transport, Shell and the BBC. During the Second World War, Eckersley worked independently for public service agencies including the Ministry of Information and the General Post Office.

In 1957 he became Head of the Design Department at the London College of Printing for twenty years. He then took early retirement in order to pursue his own work full-time. As well as producing posters for the World Wildlife Fund, Eckersley also designed works for the National Business Calendar, the Imperial War Museum, a set of film star posters and posters advertising his own exhibitions. One of his most popular designs, a Concorde platform panel at Heathrow underground station, is also in the V&A collection.

Throughout his career, Eckersley focused his attention on posters and is considered the last full-time English poster designer. This poster was bequeathed by Phillip Granville.
Collection
Accession number
E.2705-2007

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Record createdAugust 4, 2009
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