Style combination · Pairs well

Plakatstil × Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

Both reduce the message to one flat figure or object and hand-drawn words; use Plakatstil's plain ground to calm a busy red poster.

From the research on Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

Mix them and make something Plakatstil Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster, their arrangement from Plakatstil, the finish from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Plakatstil / Sachplakat Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

Type from Plakatstil: Hand-lettering
Type as image
Colour from Plakatstil: Flat fields
Limited spot colours
Form from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster: Stylised figuration
Emblems & badges
Composition from Plakatstil: Isolated object
Single focal point
Surface from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster: Painterly brushwork
Flat

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Plakatstil

Notice

Big Shoulders, standing in for Lucian Bernhard's hand-drawn block lettering

Text · Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

The state poster art of Vietnam from the 1945 August Revolution to today. Where Soviet and Chinese socialist realism model heroic figures in full colour, Vietnamese posters flatten soldiers, militia women, farmers, weapons and crops into silhouettes and blocky planes in one to three tones, usually red, yellow and black. Originals were cut in wood during the resistance, then hand-painted in gouache or tempera, often over stencils, with a slogan in Quốc ngữ capitals.

Archivo; Vietnamese Propaganda Poster used Hand-painted Quốc ngữ condensed sans capitals with stacked diacritics and Stencilled block capitals for slogan bands

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Plakatstil, with a counter-accent from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Plakatstil / Sachplakat Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

#151515 ground · 36%
#efe5cf ink · 14%
#d2382b accent · 18%
#f3c623 accent · 14%
#24418f accent · 10%
#2f5d3a accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #151515;
  --ink: #efe5cf;
  --accent-1: #d2382b;
  --accent-2: #f3c623;
  --accent-3: #24418f;
  --accent-4: #2f5d3a;
  --font-display: "Big Shoulders", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Archivo", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động): These are state propaganda of a one-party government that still commissions them, and wartime sheets celebrate shooting down American aircraft and defeating enemy soldiers; present them as historical sources with context, not as kitsch decor. Many posters sold to tourists are recent repaintings or reproductions, so date and attribute carefully, and keep Vietnamese diacritics intact in any slogan.

The two styles

A tall, slender red-orange dog stands facing right against a black background, with angular black cutouts defining its features and limbs. Large cream capital letters spell “VELOX” beneath its paws.

1905–1920 · Central Europe Plakatstil / Sachplakat The German 'object poster' launched by Lucian Bernhard's Priester match poster and printed by Berlin's Hollerbaum & Schmidt. It strips the advertisement to a single product rendered in flat, saturated colour and the brand name in bold hand-drawn letters on a plain ground, so the message registers instantly from a passing tram or across the street. 1945–present · Southeast Asia Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động) The state poster art of Vietnam from the 1945 August Revolution to today. Where Soviet and Chinese socialist realism model heroic figures in full colour, Vietnamese posters flatten soldiers, militia women, farmers, weapons and crops into silhouettes and blocky planes in one to three tones, usually red, yellow and black. Originals were cut in wood during the resistance, then hand-painted in gouache or tempera, often over stencils, with a slogan in Quốc ngữ capitals.