# Chicha Poster

> Fluorescent screen-printed street posters that emerged in the 1980s to promote chicha (Andean cumbia) concerts in Lima, made by printers from Andean migrant communities. Hand-drawn, swelling letters in day-glo pink, yellow, green and orange stack band names across the sheet, crammed edge to edge with dates, venues and slogans; the palette draws on Huanca festival costume as much as on 1960s psychedelia.

- Period: 1980–present
- Where: Latin America & Caribbean
- Origin: Lima and the central Andes (Huancayo, Jauja), Peru
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Cartel chicha, Gráfica chicha, Arte chicha
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/chicha-poster/

## Use it with care

Chicha graphics are the living craft of Andean migrant communities in Peru, and brands have borrowed the look without crediting its makers. Commission or credit working chicha printers and letterers rather than imitating their hand with fonts, and respect the Andean festival motifs it draws on.

## How it works

- Draw every letter by hand for the screen; use no fonts and no computer.
- Stack the band's name in huge, swelling letters across the full width, then fill the remaining space with dates, venues and slogans.
- Print in fluorescent inks so the poster glows at night on dimly lit streets.
- Divide the sheet into horizontal bands of blended fluorescent colour and run lettering edge to edge with no margin.
- Write slogans in local, poetic Peruvian Spanish; the words carry as much character as the letters.

## Its design choices

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

### Layout & composition
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)

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

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

### Form & shape
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (characteristic)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Hard offset shadow](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hard-offset-shadow/) (characteristic)
- [Misregistration & overprint](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/misregistration-and-overprint/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (occasional)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (defining)
- [Straight photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/straight-photography/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (occasional)

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

Avoids: Generous white space, Pastel, Earth & mineral, Desktop publishing, Rational & objective, Luxurious & glamorous

Palette: #ff1f8e, #ffe800, #39e639, #ff7a00, #00b7eb, #111111

Typefaces: Hand-drawn chicha display lettering (Monky, Elliot Túpac), Outlined, drop-shadowed block capitals, Sinuous psychedelic-derived letterforms

Known for: Pedro 'Monky' Rojas Meza; Elliot Túpac; Juan Tenicela; Publicidad Viusa (Fortunato Urcuhuaranga's family print workshop, Ate, Lima); Familia Gutiérrez (collective); Carga Máxima (collective); Concert posters for Chacalón and Los Shapis

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

- Grew out of: [Hand-Painted Signage & Vernacular Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hand-painted-signage.md) (1800–present)
- Influenced by: [Psychedelic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/psychedelic.md) (1965–1973)
- Alike in its design choices: [Jamaican Dancehall Signs & Sleeve Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jamaican-dancehall-graphics.md) (1980–present), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Hong Kong Neon & Beiwei Shop-Sign Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hong-kong-neon.md) (1950–present), 58% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Chicano Screenprint Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chicano-poster.md) (1965–present), 51% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Indian Pop-Kitsch Design (Desi Kitsch)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/indian-kitsch.md) (1997–present), 50% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ultras Graphics (Curva Banners and Tifo)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ultras-graphics.md) (1968–present), 49% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ndebele Geometric Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ndebele-painting.md) (1940–present), 49% alike

## Real works

- [Concert posters for José María Chacalón Jr. and Los Claveles de la Cumbia at Catedral de la Cumbia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lima_-_Comas_11P1020085.jpg): Unidentified Lima chicha print workshop, 2013 (photographed 9 October 2013; concert Thursday 10 October), Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Ursula Stalder)
- [Concert poster for Randy y los Super Genéticos, Alegría and Karicia at Pacaysito, Acuchimay](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poster_advertising_an_exciting_musical_act_in_Ayacucho,_Peru_(7271273942).jpg): Publicidad Vanessa, Lima (printer's stamp on the sheet), 2012 (photographed 18 May 2012; concert Sunday 13 May), Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Randal Sheppard)
- ['Megafiesta' New Year's Eve concert poster for Nuevo Stilo de Huancabamba](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartel_chicha_invitando_a_concierto_por_fin_de_a%C3%B1o_que_se_llevar%C3%A1_a_cabo_en_Puente_Piedra.jpg): Afiches Aquino, Lima (printer's stamp on the sheet), December 2022 (photographed 28 December 2022; concert Saturday 31 December), Wikimedia Commons (photograph by QM Keen)
- ['Afiche Chicha', advertising poster for Feliciano Mallqui's print workshop, among chicha slogan posters](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicha_art.jpg): Feliciano Mallqui (centre sheet); other sheets by unidentified chicha printers, c. 2011–14 (Marca Perú logo, introduced 2011; photographed 28 April 2014), Wikimedia Commons (photograph by Ivan Sosa)

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha_(art)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monky_(artist)
- NPR, Peruvians Love Their Chicha Street Art. City Officials, Not So Much (July 2015)

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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, “Chicha Poster”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/chicha-poster/