# Beggarstaffs Poster (Nicholson & Pryde)

> Posters designed by William Nicholson and James Pryde under the pseudonym J. & W. Beggarstaff: shapes cut from paper and shifted about a board until the silhouette worked, then executed by stencil (Hamlet was stencilled on brown wrapping paper, with details added by hand) in a few flat colours. Figures are left partly incomplete for the viewer to finish. Unlike the later Plakatstil, a commercial system of silhouette and plain lettering, this was a cut-paper collage method made by a studio of two; few designs were printed and they were too avant-garde for the advertisers of the day.

- Period: 1894–1899
- Where: Western Europe
- Origin: London, England
- Branch: Rational modernism
- Also known as: Beggarstaffs, Beggarstaff Brothers, Cut-paper silhouette poster
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/beggarstaffs-poster/

## How it works

- Compose by cutting and moving paper shapes on a board until the silhouette reads.
- Reduce every figure to a flat mass and leave part of it unsaid for the viewer to complete.
- Limit the palette to two or three flat colours, as black and yellow alone.
- Draw the lettering plainly and fit it into the silhouette.
- Reject line, floral ornament and tonal gradation; let masses carry the poster.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (defining)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (occasional)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (occasional)
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (defining)

### Imagery
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)

Avoids: Floral & vegetal, Abundant decoration, Whiplash line, Biomorphic curves, Horror vacui, Gloss & highlights, Gradients, Straight photography

Palette: #1c1b19, #e8b923, #b8a07e, #f1e8d4, #7a4a2b

Typefaces: Hand-drawn poster lettering, Plain Victorian sans-serif capitals

Known for: Hamlet (1894), for W. S. Hardy's company; Kassama Corn Flour (1894), in black and yellow; Harper's Magazine (1895); Cinderella (1895); Rowntree's Elect Cocoa (1896); Don Quixote (1895), a design for Henry Irving, never printed

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

- Alike in its design choices: [UPA & Cartoon Modern](https://stylogeny.com/styles/upa-cartoon-modern.md) (1944–1960), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bass-conceptual-film-graphics.md) (1954–1995), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Leningrad Avant-Garde Picture Book](https://stylogeny.com/styles/soviet-picture-book.md) (1922–1936), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Zagreb School of Animated Film](https://stylogeny.com/styles/zagreb-animation.md) (1954–1980), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Plakatstil / Sachplakat](https://stylogeny.com/styles/plakatstil.md) (1905–1920), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Sudanese Revolution Graphics (Digital Illustrations and Sit-in Murals)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/sudanese-revolution-graphics.md) (2018–present), 60% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggarstaffs
- https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/beggarstaffs
- https://beggarstaffs.com/catalogue/hamlet/
- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design

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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, “Beggarstaffs Poster (Nicholson & Pryde)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/beggarstaffs-poster/