Eight on the Lam 1967

This is a poster for “Eight on the Lam,” designed by Jack Davis, though the precise date of its creation is unknown. Davis, as one of the founders of *Mad* magazine, clearly brought to this project a sensibility attuned to the circulation of imagery. Its visual language comes straight from the printing press: hand-rendered illustrations, bold typography, and lurid colors. The work involved in creating an image like this isn’t about slow, careful refinement – it’s about capturing the viewers’ attention in a matter of seconds. What is truly interesting about this kind of image-making is its ephemerality. It exists to serve a very specific purpose, for a limited amount of time. And yet, a piece like this is a cultural artifact. It tells us a lot about American society and culture at the time. Examining how images like this were made – using a combination of artistic skill, and industrial production – opens our eyes to a world of visual communication that has shaped the modern era.