Ontwerp voor een advertentie voor de Hilversumsche Vereeniging tot bestrijding der tuberculose 1884 - 1952

Curator: This striking image is a design for an advertisement by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. Likely created between 1884 and 1952, it was meant for the Hilversum Association for Combating Tuberculosis. Editor: The graphic simplicity is quite impactful. The bold typeface and sharp-edged frame give it a direct, almost aggressive, quality. Curator: It's certainly a direct message. Posters like these played a crucial role in public health campaigns. They aimed to shift behavior and disseminate important information. This particular piece urges people not to moisten their fingers with saliva when turning pages. Editor: Notice the choice of the Art Nouveau style here. Although simplified, the overall decorative composition suggests it. This combination brings some elegance to a public service announcement. Curator: Absolutely, this artwork is a blend of functionality and aesthetics typical of that period. Its success lay in how it caught the public’s eye and influenced their practices during a public health crisis. How to reach, and convince, an audience? Editor: And, technically, the typography creates such distinct layers and framing of the announcement! I would not want to ignore the overall importance of lettering, and especially size of each verse. This leads the reader quite carefully and sequentially. Curator: We’re also seeing the politics of hygiene displayed; a shift towards sanitation and individual responsibility in the fight against the spread of disease is being publicly promoted, showing both the limitations of the health services, and new-found hope in scientific discoveries. Editor: Ultimately, de Vries delivers this powerful, necessary reminder effectively, even tastefully, by thinking about its various planes, or, in his words: frames of the visual space. Curator: Reflecting on this design reminds me of the profound influence visual communication has on shaping public health practices. Editor: And the design decisions we find—consciously or unconsciously—in such media!