Vintage Audi Poster
December 2nd, 2009Today I received an email with the following image attached from an AisleOne reader named Rob, who’s a designer and instructor. According to Rob, the image of the poster was found by one of his students who was doing research for a report. No info can be found about it, other than it being created by the great Armin Hofmann.
I did a little research myself and couldn’t find any info about this poster, but I did find info on the model shown. It’s an Audi 60 which was produced from 1968 to 1972, giving us a slight idea as to when the poster was created.
What strikes me the most about this poster is the simplicity, elegance and beauty of the visual. The white background, large type and straight-on angle of the car create a stunning image. Rob explained it well in the email:
I love the way the AUDI logo is reflected in the roof of the car and visible through the back window, which would have been a lot more difficult to achieve in the pre-Photoshop era.
I agree.
As for the typeface used, it’s hard to tell but it seems like it could be either Akzidenz Grotesk or Univers. Anyone?
I wish there was more info on this poster and I wonder if there was a series of them done by Hofmann. If anyone has any info, please email me. In the meantime, we can all admire its beauty.
OPEN STUDIO
This is a great find. The logo reflected in the roof is a great detail. I tried to find a series of posters for AUDI by Hofmann and all I could find was this one. It would be great to know if there are more.
MadebyArchetype™
This made my day, incredible. Just introduced my students to Armin Hofmann’s work.
Josh
The best Modernism is timeless. This poster could be from 1940 or 2040 — it looks amazing for any time period. It’s interesting to compare it to other car ads from the late-60s era, most of which were so visually full of background image, people, headlines, body copy, logos, etc.
a cheesy example: http://www.adclassix.com/ads/67dodgecoronet440.htm
Alexander Fjelldal
>a lot more difficult to achieve in the pre-Photoshop era
It’s easier to achieve the quallity of this reflection when doing it in the studio, but it’s definitely harder convincing your boss.
It’s a matter of how time is spent, preparing or fixing.
Martin Rosell
That has to be some heavier Univers. The A is pretty characteristic. This maybe?
Kevin Stone
Ymm lovely poster.
By the apex of the A, it looks to be Univers to me.
Yiho
100% its univers. look at the variation of the width of the stroke. akzidenz is much more machined
HerroHeo
seems like he is the founder of the ‘reflection’ look that everyone-and-their-mom is using now. I love this poster.
James
Yeah that’s definitely univers alright, lovely poster, great find.
nice car too
Noah
This is great! My new iPhone wallpaper.
RobertHenry
well havent you just highlighted the problem of the “photoshop era”? everyone assumes that this would have to be done with techniques similar to photoshop. most likely it was produced in a studio with the type printed on a white backdrop. or is that too obvious?
Morgan Smail
actually Robert:
I was wondering the very same thing… I’m thinking that was most likely the case.
The magnification from the car window probably would have been a little more exaggerated if it were done artificially by someone… or not at all.
Morgan Smail
I love work that came out of a time era were designers thought a piece all the way through before even beginning the execution — A rarity these days, unfortunately.
Rob
Nice, real nice.
I’ve got a few vintage Audi and VW posters on a CD which were ‘acquired’ when a dealership asked us to run out some prints. My flat hallway has got 6 of the VW posters hung in frames. They are better than art!
Antonio Carusone
RobertHenry, I would bet good money on it being created that way. It’s simple and that’s how they we’re able to get the nice reflection and the type showing through the glass.
Roman
Since the Audi corporate font “Audi Sans”, introduced in 1997 by Meta Design, was a modified Univers Extended, the font used pre-1997 likely was the original Univers Extended, I think.
(“Audi Sans” was replaced by “AudiType” in 2009, again made by Meta Design.)
Matt
Looks to me like Univers Black.
bubba
i agree it is Univers Black.
ne zaman emekli olabilirim
ya yeter artik ne yazacagimi sasirdim sizin yuzunuzden?
Ryan
Does anyone know where you can obtain a copy of this print?
Mike Daymon
The easy way would have been to paint the type on an infinity background, and of course, airbrush retouching was often used during that time to clean up most images. Photoshop imitates art.
Matt Pasternack
This poster is amazing but it is not by Armin Hofmann. My professor knows Armin personally and said that this poster was not created by him but has been floating around and someone tagged his name on it a long the way. Fun fact about Armin also, he had to go to auctions to buy his own posters back because he had given them all away.