The modern poster dates back to 1870 when the printing industry perfected colour lithography and made mass production possible.
Posters, in the form of placards and posted bills, have been used since earliest times, primarily for advertising and announcements. However, the great revolution in posters was the development of printing techniques that allowed for cheap mass production and printing, including the notably technique lithography. The invention of lithography was soon followed by chromolithography, which allowed for mass editions of posters, illustrated in vibrant colours, to be printed.
By the 1890’s, the technique had spread throughout Europe. A number of artists created poster art in this period. By the end of the 19th century, during an era known as the Belle Époque, the standing of the poster as a serious art form was raised even further. The 1960’s produced the rise of pop art and protest movements throughout the West. Posters during wartime were also used for propaganda purposes, persuasion and motivation.
The Slovenian advertising poster started to receive its expansion and autonomous design features after The Second World War. Slovenian posters were far from popular advertising posters of today, but they rapidly assumed common design features of the period when they occurred. Thanks to authors such as Dusan Škrlep, Janez Trpin, Uroš Vagaja, Boris Jurkovič and others, whose works built the Slovenian and Yugoslav brand (Radenska, Zlatorog, Triglav, Peko, Elektrotehna, Helios, JAT, Illyria, Iskra, Elan, Astra and Cockta) , Slovenian posters got their national artistic signature.
