David Lance Goines created this poster in 1973 as a tool for self-promotion. The image was printed using seven colors on an 18″ x 24″ sheet of paper using color offset lithograph printing, like Goines’s AIDS Prevention poster that I posted about previously and many of his other poster designs. As I mentioned in my other posts, Goines created the Saint Hieronymous Press at Berkeley and is said to be highly involved throughout the entire design and printing process, going on to print his designs himself, so it is likely that he uses his press to personally print many of his own designs.

The poster shows a bottle, presumably a bottle of Guinness judging by the text below, sandwiched in between two slices of bread. This ‘Guinness sandwich’ is placed against a red circle background, making the sandwich stand out with its more neutral colors. Underneath this image, Goines includes text reading “Guinness” in a font that seems to elongate at the middle and shorten at each end. The text also stands out from the red circle in the background due to Goines’s use of a tan outline around the black letters. Goines uses these images to create a visual pun, which he talks about on his website, describing how Guinness’s motto, “Guinness is good for you,” is “illegal” (Goines), since the United States has “a rule that prohibits the attribution of any healthful or beneficent aspect to any alcoholic beverage” (Goines). This design is also quite typical for its time period, with Goines again using flat text and symbolic images to convey his message, which was common for designers at this time.

 

Bibliography:

Goines, David Lance. “Poster 25: Guinness.” David Lance Goines Graphic Arts Posters, www.goines.net/Poster_art1/poster_25.html.

“Graphic Design in the 20th Century.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2021, www.britannica.com/art/graphic-design/Graphic-design-in-the-20th-century.