You Get Surprise out of LIFE
Raymond Savignac
1954
DIMENSIONS
46 x 59 in. (116.8 x 149.9 cm)
OBJECT NUMBER
PH.296
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
United States
CREDIT LINE
Poster House Permanent Collection
KEYWORDS
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In 1954, Savignac, by then a celebrated poster designer (who had made his name in 1949 with a promotion for Monsavon Au Lait Soap featuing a quizzical cow), was commissioned by Young & Rubicam to produce 12 posters supplying good reasons to read LIFE magazine. The cheeky monkey reaching to cover the eyes of a bald man in a suit is characteristic of the visual gags (inspired by the films of Charlie Chaplin) in Savignac’s many simple, colorful poster designs; these often incorporate similar cartoon-like animals and/or humans. Such images reflected his belief that “the public is so bored with its daily routine that I think advertising should amuse them.”
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