# Australian Poster Collective Screenprints

> Screenprinted posters from the political poster collectives and community workshops that spread across Australia from Sydney's Tin Sheds, where Earthworks began in 1971. Early Earthworks posters borrowed psychedelic and Art Nouveau decoration before turning hard-edged and political; Redback Graphix then set fluorescent inks against black. Unsigned, punning and local, they served union, feminist, land-rights and community clients and were pasted up across the cities.

- Period: 1971–1994
- Where: Oceania
- Origin: Tin Sheds Art Workshop, University of Sydney, then collectives and workshops in Wollongong, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Darwin
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Earthworks posters, Tin Sheds posters, Redback Graphix, Australian political screenprint posters
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/australian-poster-collectives/

## Use it with care

Land-rights posters were often made with or for Aboriginal organisations (the Central and Northern Land Councils, Boomalli) and can include designs, stories and clan imagery that belong to particular Aboriginal artists and communities; the Aboriginal flag was designed by Luritja artist Harold Thomas in 1971. Do not borrow Aboriginal motifs, dot or cross-hatch patterns as a 'protest look'; work with First Nations artists and organisations under protocols such as Creative Australia's Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts.

## How it works

- Screenprint from hand-cut and photo stencils in sharp, unmodulated colour.
- Place one central image between bands of text above and below, translated into community languages where the audience needs it.
- Set fluorescent inks against black to make cheap colour look brighter.
- Use local vernacular imagery and puns rather than borrowed international revolutionary icons.
- Credit the collective rather than the individual, and make each poster for a specific community client.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (defining)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (characteristic)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (characteristic)
- [Misregistration & overprint](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/misregistration-and-overprint/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (occasional)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (defining)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (occasional)

Avoids: Authoritative & institutional, Luxurious & glamorous, Gloss & highlights, Gradients, Pastel, Painterly illustration, Modular grid

Palette: #111111, #ff3e8a, #ff8a1f, #f6e000, #c0392b, #f2ede3

Typefaces: Hand-cut stencil lettering, Press-type (Letraset) display faces, Hand-drawn Art Nouveau and psychedelic lettering (early Earthworks)

Known for: Earthworks Poster Collective, Tin Sheds, University of Sydney (from 1971; disbanded 1979); Michael Callaghan and Earthworks, Give Fraser the razor (1977, four-stencil screenprint); Redback Graphix, The Daily Oppression (1982, five-stencil screenprint for the Committee in Solidarity with Central America & the Caribbean); Marie McMahon, Chips Mackinolty and Toni Robertson; Jalak Graphics posters for the Central and Northern Land Councils (Lorna Fencer, Abie Jangala); Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, We have survived (1988); Black Banana Poster Collective, Brisbane; Lucifoil, Sydney (1980–83)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Psychedelic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/psychedelic.md) (1965–1973)
- Influenced by: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Cuban Revolutionary Poster (OSPAAAL & ICAIC)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cuban-poster.md) (1960–1990)
- Alike in its design choices: [Chicano Screenprint Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chicano-poster.md) (1965–present), 81% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [South African Resistance Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/anti-apartheid-poster.md) (1978–1994), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Screenprinted Gig & Alt-Movie Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/screenprint-gig-poster.md) (1991–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [WPA Silkscreen Posters](https://stylogeny.com/styles/wpa-poster.md) (1935–1943), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Indian Pop-Kitsch Design (Desi Kitsch)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/indian-kitsch.md) (1997–present), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Puerto Rican Silkscreen Poster (DIVEDCO & ICP)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/puerto-rican-silkscreen-poster.md) (1946–1989), 62% alike

## Real works

- [... dont let DSS spoil your day / fight for your rights](https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/35124/): Gregor Cullen, Redback Graphix (for the Welfare Rights Centre, Sydney), 1985, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (87.1367), via Australian Prints + Printmaking
- [Give Fraser the razor](https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/40417/): Michael Callaghan, Earthworks Poster Collective, 1977, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (94.305), via Australian Prints + Printmaking
- [Daily Oppression – El Salvador – Reagan's Vietnam](https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/1892/): Michael Callaghan, Redback Graphix (printer Nick Southall; for CISCAC, Committee in Solidarity with Central America & the Caribbean), 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (85.1714), via Australian Prints + Printmaking
- [A stitch in time saves nine. Free safe vasectomy on demand](https://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/2589/): Marie McMahon, Earthworks Poster Collective, 1978, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (94.332), via Australian Prints + Printmaking
- [No nukes in the Pacific](https://hdl.handle.net/10622/E519E87B-F61D-470E-B88F-E6073BA09F3E): Pam Debenham (Tin Sheds), 1984, International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam (BG E5/642)

## Sources

- 'Political clout: Australian posters', Eye magazine (eyemagazine.com)
- Wikipedia: Australian poster collectives
- National Gallery of Australia, Australian Prints + Printmaking records for Give Fraser the razor (1977) and The Daily Oppression (1982) (printsandprintmaking.gov.au)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Australian Poster Collective Screenprints”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/australian-poster-collectives/