OUGD505 - Leeds Public Spaces - Cycling Poster Research

In order to gain a better understanding of the visual style of cycling posters, I researched into previous posters in order to determine what information they present and typographic styles.

Original Vintage Cycling Posters
AntikBar

• The bicycle is the predominant subject for a lot of cycling posters
• The posters are all eco-friendly, like cycling
• The posters represent a moment in time creating a visual narrative.

Range of typographic styles from bold sans-serifs for the official copy and the vernacular style suggests movement and speed.

Original vintage posters are also collectible items that are recognised as a sound art investment to be enjoyed as they appreciate over time. Perhaps my poster could be a limited edition print run celebrating the time Leeds hosted the Grande Départ which could become a collectable item for cycling enthusiasts and for people involved in the successful event in Leeds.

Bruce Doscher 

Doscher creates Tour de France posters as a personal project as a marriage of two great passions of his — Art and Endurance.

 He takes a lot of inspiration from the Art Deco period, particularly the work of A.M. Cassandre, Tamara de Lempicka, and other artists of the 1920′s and 30′s which is evident throughout his large volume of prints:

2010

Stage 18

2016
Stage 8

2015:

Doscher uses the map contours to highlight the elevations and create an engaging background.

Noticed the minimum amount of information Doscher includes:

• Stage number 
• Date of race
• Location 

Doscher's typesetting is often set at angles or in italics to suggest movement and reflect the speed and direction of the cyclists.

Art Deco examples:

Contrasting type styles create high impact and dynamic compositions. The typesetting is consistently set at the top/and/or/bottom of composition, leaving a large space for high impact imagery. Highly contrasting colour schemes make the posters bold and vibrant, creating high impact visuals.


Tour de France - Branding

The current Tour de France logo was created by French designer Joel Guenoun back in 2002 and it's remained unchanged ever since. The playful brush script gives it a distinctly French feel and Guenoun has added the yellow circle and incorporated it with the 'R' in order to subtly suggest the form of a cyclist. Personally I think the branding is really successful as the vernacular style immediately recognisable and unique to Le Tour de France. 

The iconic event has reached the music industry as Kraftwork demonstrated when the album art was produced for their track 'Tour De France'.

The colour scheme is appropriate for the French flag and the lines create a sense of perspective and movement which is also backed up by the change in scale of the cyclists and typography.