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The Origins of a Blacklight Poster
A bright blacklight poster is the first thing, which comes to mind when talking about the culture of 1960s and 1970s. The first examples of them appeared between 1967 and 1969. The most popular themes for them were sex, drugs, rock n roll as well as various psychedelic patterns. Sometimes, such posters even caused the hypnotic effects and made people think as if they had hallucinations. The aim of this art was to help people to feel the spirit of freedom.
In the beginning, such art was tightly connected with artists, who created their artworks under the influence of drugs, but, gradually, it turned into mainstream movement. Such prints started to be used for advertising, home décor, movie and concert promotion.
The Use of Blacklight Posters
In 2000s, the popularity of blacklight posters returned and they started to be used for a number of purposes. The themes for these posters broadened and they aren’t considered only as a part of trippy art any more. Now, the number of themes for such posters is great: you can face the rare vintage prints as well as modern art prints. The prices for such posters differ: you may find blacklight posters cheap as well as buy them for a large sum of money.
As the number of themes for blacklight posters is incredible, their usage has also expanded. They aren’t just used at night clubs and cafes, but also decorate homes, offices and public places. They are widely used for parties, for example for Halloween wall décor or even birthdays.
Blacklight pictures may also become an integral part of your home décor. Depending on the image itself, such a print may be hung in any room and can suit different interior design styles. As such posters are very bright, it’s necessary that their colors bear some resemblance with the room color scheme. For instance, if the poster is made in red and orange colors, there needs to be some orange or red accents in the room décor. However, if the design of your room is in neutral colors, you shouldn’t worry about this issue at all as even the poster in all the colors of the rainbow will look organic in it.
The Most Popular Types of Blacklight Posters
Cool blacklight posters are available in many designs, color schemes, styles and themes. Along with the widespread abstract psychedelic prints, there are the images of nature and even portraits. Here are the examples of the most interesting prints.
Trippy Blacklight Posters
The images of trippy posters are most frequently connected with the psychedelic experiences and hallucinations, caused by the drug intake. The most common themes are marijuana, mushroom, aliens, optical illusions and fractal art. Trippy posters depict the fantastic world as well as freaky patterns and forms.
The authors of trippy posters like to use various kinds of visual tricks in their works. Optical illusions and fractal art make people doubt in what is really depicted on a picture. Very often, such prints look as if they are alive and move in a pulsating manner or contain some hidden patterns.
Psychedelic blacklight posters cause the effect of perceptual distortions with the help of bright contrasting colors, repetitive patterns, curvilinear shapes, ornate lettering, kaleidoscopic swirls and visual illusions. They often look like a chaos and sometimes in order to see what is depicted on them, you need to be attentive and creative.
It’s considered that trippy blacklight posters are created by the authors, who are under the influence of LSD or other drugs. However, it’s only partially true and not all authors of such prints are drug addicts. Many artists create their masterpieces in absolute sobriety.
As trippy blacklight posters can be rather provocative and eccentric, they can’t be used everywhere. For example, it’s better not to use them in a baby room design or in bedrooms. The people, who choose such posters, are usually young and creative or the representatives of older generation, who feel nostalgia for their young years.
A Blacklight Trippy Poster
Vintage Blacklight Posters
Though a great number of stylish prints have appeared in the recent years, a vintage blacklight poster will be always in trend. You may try to find the posters, which were really printed in 1960-1970s. Though the majority of them are already in private collections, some of them can be found at certain stores. However, be ready that they can be rather expensive.
If you want to get a vintage poster for an affordable price, you don’t need to walk around all the swap meets in your town. You are free to buy a new poster, which looks like a vintage one. There are several advantages of choosing such a print. First of all, it’s the nice and affordable price.
Secondly, you can order a vintage blacklight picture online and have it delivered directly to your dwelling.
Thirdly, the quality of the paper and inks are better now than they used to be in 1970s and so, the poster will serve for a longer period of time. And fourthly, the selection of the images for sale is very big and you may choose the print you really like and not the single one, which is available at a vintage shop.
A Vintage Blacklight Poster
Nature-Inspired Blacklight Posters
The prints of such kind may feature landscapes or more detailed nature pictures, for example, a bouquet of flowers or a tree leaf. The posters with nature elements will look great in kitchen design. However, if you place such a poster in a kitchen, it’s highly recommended to frame it beforehand.
Nature –inspired posters may also contain the blacklight images of animals both real and mythological, for example, dragons or unicorns. The most popular images are the ones of wild animals like snakes, wolves and lions, but you may also face cat and dog wall art.
A Blacklight Flowers Poster
Portrait Blacklight Posters
Portraits are also one of the most popular themes for blacklight posters. It can be a print of a famous personality, an ordinary person or a more abstract print. Among the most famous celebrities, depicted on such posters, are Bob Marley, Marilyn Monroe and the members of legendary rock bands.
Abstract pictures show a human face only partially and are more concentrated on the blacklight effects. Often, such prints don’t look like portraits from a certain distance and have some optical illusion elements.
A Portrait Blacklight Poster
Abstract Blacklight Posters
Abstract blacklight posters often feature various swirls, unusual lines, kaleidoscopic patterns and other interesting shapes. But sometimes, they may contain just a couple of simple lines, which even don’t have any optical illusion effects. One of the examples of such “simple” posters is presented below. Despite being rather conservative, it looks very bright and mysterious. It can be used for the wall décor in any room and also will look amazing at clubs and cafes.
An Abstract Blacklight Poster
Movie and Concert Promotion Blacklight Posters
After the introduction of posters with phosphors paint, the first people, who started the mass production of them, were advertising agents. Such posters turned out to be a great tool for advertising rock concerts and promotion of fantastic movies. They attracted attention immediately and never remained unnoticed. Thus, you may find a vintage Rolling Stones or Sublime blacklight poster as well as a number of movie posters. Nowadays, some enthusiasts also turn modern movie and celebrity posters into blacklight ones.
A Blacklight Led Zeppelin Poster
Custom Blacklight Posters
If you don’t like the selection of posters for sale, many online printing companies offer to print custom posters. So, you can find an image you like, download it to the site and have it printed. If you want to have something more original, which no one has, you are free to create your own custom blacklight poster. You can either do that with the help of computer programs or make a poster online. The main pluses of creating your own poster are that it will be unique and you are free to cover the themes, which you are interested in.
So, blacklight posters still remain the nice and thought-provoking art. They may be used in different spheres, but most frequently they just decorate the walls. Moreover, such prints aren’t associated with trippy art only; they constitute a separate kind of art with its own laws and techniques.
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