Public Address System: Poster Speeches by Typographers

Public Address System is a collection of posters by typographers that were featured in an exhibition of the same name in London and Berlin in 2004. The brief was simple: to design an A2 poster that was a typographic interpretation of a speech. The typographers' responses are awe-inspiring and provoke deep thought about not only the issues addressed by the often famous speeches, but also about the very nature of speech, typography and posters. The featured works are made from all manner of materials, from Perspex, to gold foil, to a collage, including torn book pages and a 7-inch vinyl record. These highly innovative approaches to poster design endorse the importance of typography in visual culture and its power in everyday life; what emerged from the exhibition, above all else, was that far from being dry or retiring, typography arouses passion.