Berlin,
Germany: Verlag Max Chiliburger, 1910-1921
[The period initially covered by Arts:Search is 1912-1921. Available now]
Das Plakat originated as Mitteilungen des Vereins der Plakatfreunde. It changed to its more familiar title with the January 1913 issue.
Das Plakat is generally considered to have been the most influential journal ever produced on the art of the poster. It was the official publication of the Verein der Plakat Freunde (The Society for Friends of the Poster) an association of poster dealers, collectors and designers established in Berlin in 1905. The founder and driving force behind the journal was Hans Josef Sachs (1881-1974), a Berlin dentist with a passionate interest in the poster.
Das Plakat is extensively illustrated with numerous colour plates. It covers all aspects of the art of the poster and in addition to German posters, it includes articles on poster design and designers in Austria, Hungary, Sweden, the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, and other countries.
Nearly every major poster designer active during the years of its publication are represented in Das Plakat. Adding to the usefulness of the digitization. we have included details of all the c.4000 artists, whose work is reproduced, giving their full name, dates, nationality, etc. We also intend to subject index [in English] all the articles and classify all the posters by subject and type.
In addition to digitizing all but two of the numbers of Das Plakat from the years 1912-1921, we have digitized several of the special supplements issued by the journal, including two supplements on plagiarism in poster design, and a supplement on the design of wine labels.
For the significance of this exceptionally rare and important journal see the 2004 essay by Steven Heller, ‘https://www.typotheque.com/articles/graphic_design_magazines_das_plakat’