The Curator's Eye

Preventing Nuclear War. Rick Eiber, Graphic Designer

Selected by Daniel R. Smith, curator, The Seattle-Moscow Poster Show.

Rick Eiber, Target Seattle/Soviet Realities, 1983, offset print, 25 x 18 inches

The Seattle-Moscow Poster Show is the third and last exhibit in a series that showcases Seattle graphic artists alongside those from the capitals of nations often at odds, politically, with the United States. Previous years’ shows focused on Tehran and Havana. The only vintage poster included in this year’s show, Target Seattle/Soviet Realities (above), was designed by the late graphic designer Rick Eiber, who is widely known both for his design work (which he executed without computers) and for his reference book, World Trademarks: 100 Years. Curator Daniel R. Smith discovered the poster by accident, before he knew Moscow would be the focus of the exhibit. In an excerpt from the show catalogue, he describes the story behind the poster:

Target Seattle/Soviet Realities, designed by Rick Eiber in 1983, advertised a follow-up series of events [related to the arrival of the first Trident nuclear submarine at the Bangor U.S. naval base in 1982]. After it was printed, concerns arose over the poster’s presentation of an American flag with stars replaced by hammer and sickle icons. Though it was intended as a symbol of peace, the event organizers realized the poster could be misread by a fearful public as advocating Soviet dominance over America. Consequently, the poster was never distributed. — D.R.S.

To see more posters: 

The Seattle-Moscow Poster Show is on view at SeattleMoscow.com.