Graphic features of the advertising posters of Ukrainian folk and pop music of the second half of the XX century

Statement of the problem. Accordingly, the purpose of this work can be formulated as determining the stylistic and figurative-visual features of music and song posters of Ukraine of the second half of XX century by visual features and graphic presentation, identifying in their graphic solutions relevant or outdated decorative elements, fonts, compositions.

Results of the research

The art of the poster of the 1960s has a rigid framework. The Soviet government allowed the use of only one "correct" style - socialist realism. Due to this, the authors could not show individual style. Most of the work of this time is an endless repetition of proven schemes and motives. The main elements of the Ukrainian poster of socialist realism are an embroidered shirt, a wheat field and spikelets, the red and blue colors of the flag, and the image of a man as a representative of the working people. In such works there is an emphasized theatricality, smiles, pathos, the effects of sunlight, headwind. The image of the main character, which looks monumental, as if from the lower angle, resembling a monument, was obligatory (Fig. 1). It should be noted that in this decade the most posters of folk music and song, opera films, individual pop singers were created. They all had a common handwriting and thin, long fonts, colors, which consisted of shades of yellow, orange, red and blue. It should be noted that handwritten fonts on the works of that period were created under the influence of advertising graphics of Europe and the United States in the early twentieth century. Also, each poster depicts a man in allegorical figures and embroidered shirts for identification (thus emphasizing that the main characters are Ukrainians. In works dedicated to folk songs and music, artists were allowed to use a wide and sharp font, similar to Narbut's) (Fig. 2) We consider it appropriate to dwell in detail on compositional forms that are significantly outdated for use in modern graphic design, but it is worth noting that now handwritten and avant-garde fine fonts are perfectly combined and executed with new artistic solutions to give a retro hue. Currently designers use such fonts, updating their forms with the help of computer programs and adapting them to current trends (Fig. 3).

The vast majority of graphic artists who have worked or are working in the field of poster art (according to research by art critics and music historians) claim that even in the 1970s, the "iron curtain" that shielded them from the Western world was not so monolithic. There were still channels of communication through which the Soviet Union learned about Western culture, the achievements of European and American design schools [1]. In particular, graphic designers widely used the means of optical art, the main elements of which were the rhythm of parallel lines, radial repetitions, contours, visual illusions. Ukrainian poster artists successfully combined op-art decisions not only on posters of vocal- instrumental ensembles or individual performers, but also in posters of folk music and song (Fig. 6, 7). For the first time, the main character was not a man, but a musical instrument, treble clef or other object or symbol. Bright, active, pure shades of green, red, blue, brilliant graphic solutions looked flashy and "Western-style", which was condemned by the Soviet authorities. Based on the above, we found that the design of opart was so bold that it is obvious and still looks relevant (Pic. 8). Here are some additional comments on fonts. Most of them are largely outdated, look heavy and awkward (Fig. 7), or are illegible, as on the poster of graphic artist T. Lyashchuk (Fig. 6).

Along with optical art in the 1970s, there was no less interesting style - pop art. This style of Ukrainian music posters follows well- known examples of American and British works. First of all, it's collages, matching illustrations with text, stylized "flashes", halo outlines, highlights of three-dimensional logos, gradients that gave the font a metallic effect. The color scheme is rich in shades and bold combinations. Most often, such elements were found in pop posters (Fig. 9), while the posters of folk choirs used the previously described op-art. Variety performers such as Sofia Rotaru, VIA Svityaz, VIA Kobza immediately picked up the trend of using and adapting pop art (Fig. 10). At present, pop art with its plots and specific solutions looks funny, quite outdated and is forever in the past. It becomes clear that only the combination of photo collage and text remains in time. This allows us to conclude that photography is one of the most popular elements of modern music poster design, regardless of the genre of music. And it was pop art that gave impetus to its mass use.

In the 1980s, the international style, better known to Western countries as "Swedish", became popular, characterized by geometric shapes, modular grid, limited color, conciseness, serif fonts, and typography. The rejection of decor, illustration and stylization was a liberation from Ukrainian folk ornaments and pre-war graphic traditions. The royal range on each poster, as mentioned above, was limited and ranged from two to three pure shades (Fig. 11). Posters and posters of pop and folk songs had common decorative elements, and were generally almost identical, regardless of genre. It is worth noting that helvetica in the so-called international style is one of the main elements of graphics, while Soviet poster artists allowed themselves to replace it with serif fonts, as well as accidental. Rejecting from the musical posters of international style obsolete Soviet fonts, which were found in almost all posters, regardless of genre, replacing them with helvetica, we can conclude that the rest of the visual part looks extremely relevant, widely used in graphic design today. Minimalist graphic techniques are more timely than ever, not only in poster art, but also in identity in general. Thus, based on the above, we can assume that this style remains, as if out of time, still existing in its original form, as seen in the graphic poster of musician and graphic designer M. Joyce (Fig. 12).

Fig. 1. Poster "Dance of the Ukrainian people", G. Kislyakova, 1965

Fig. 2. Poster "Works for bandura", 1962

Fig. 3. Poster for the concert of VIA "Proletarian Tango", V. Chorny, 2016

Fig. 4. Poster of easel graphics "Oh, why are you, oak", V. Igumentsev, 1970

Fig. 5. ation poster of the cultural and educational event "Protection Festival", N. Dzyvulska, 2018

Fig. 6. Poster for the concert "You are my song", T. Lyashchuk, 1977

Fig. 7. Poster of the concert of the vocal quartet "Yavir", 1975

Fig. 8. Information poster of the cultural event "Doppler-Effekt", K. Miller, 2019

Fig. 9. Poster in the technique of photo collage of pop singer S. Rotaru, Y. Aksonov, 1979

Fig. 10. Poster for the concert of VIA "Kobza", V. Viter, 1979

Fig. 11. Poster of the concert "String Orchestra of the Music Institute, M. Lysenko», I. Sochynska, 1980

Fig. 13. Poster-photo collage based on the work of pop singer T. Petrynenko, A. Harutyunyan,

Fig. 12. Poster for the concert of the musical group "Pearl Jam", M. Joyce, 2017

Fig. 14. Poster-photo collage based on the works of the folk ensemble "Rainbow", Yu. Aksenov, Yu. Balashov, 1981

Fig. 15. Poster of the creative project "Orion Aesthetic", P. Ramdin, 2019

The most creative genre of music posters of the 80s of the XX century - surrealism - deserves special attention. It is characterized by a combination of conservative and modernist, national and global, familiar and unexpected. 3D effects, crimson-blue shades, unusual perspective, metallic gradients, hints of futurism. All this can be seen on the examples of Ukrainian pop ensembles and individual performers ("Dream", "Kobza", "Stozhary", Taras Petrynenko), as evidenced by posters based on their creative activities (Fig. 13). Note that surreal compositions are found even in combination with embroideries and wreaths in the posters of folk choirs, which looks quite unexpected (Fig. 14).

The Ukrainian music and song poster of the second half of the 20th century was allowed to be designed only within a strictly defined framework, the only right solution, the so-called right style, which at that time was socialist realism. On the other hand, global, in particular, European and American trends in graphic poster design have influenced domestic poster artists. Most of the results of this influence can be traced on the posters of pop artists, whose image and design solutions have prompted Ukrainian graphic designers to adapt to the requirements inherent in the foreign target audience. Ukrainian graphic designers approached European image and design solutions with caution in the development of posters of folk music and songs, adhering to the already familiar standards of socialist realism, slowly adopting new stylistic designs. The paper determines that a large number of decorative elements, artistic details and approaches that were characteristic of the period of socialist realism, fully comply with the basics of collective aesthetics, are relevant and popular today. However, most fonts of the second half of the XX century look old- fashioned and need redesign. Some of them will be useful to provide a retro image in the design of certain graphic posters and billboards. Speaking about promising areas for further study of Ukrainian poster art of the XX century, the following should be singled out: analysis of authentic Soviet fonts, ethnographic traces, the influence of foreign design schools on Ukrainian Soviet posters.

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