SINALCO ART TOUR

SINALCO ART TOUR

Plakate, Affiches, Poster

22 January - 05 February 2009

The visit of the exhibition is free of charge.

Exhibition Coordinator: Dejan Sandić, International Cooperation Curator

Over hundred years of a particular Sinalco handwriting tradition will be represented in the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade by quite a number of original historical Sinalco placards, ads and posters. The exhibition was first staged in Duisburg, Germany in 2007.

Sinalko plakatSinalco happens to be the oldest non-alcoholic beverage brand within Europe and during the twentieth century its export covered over 100 countries throughout the world. There are many factors contributing to the success and recognizability of this German cult brand. Amounts of promotional materials increased with time which consequently brought about this visiting exhibition.

The public appearance of Sinalco has always been considered an example of attractive brand, uniform international look, the best and strictly controlled quality of product, perfectly organised distribution and publicity support. Important part of the success of the brand goes to the innovative art of posters that Sinalco had been using from its very beginning in 1902 when the beverage was named Bilz-Brause after its maker Friedrich Bilz. Soon after the company’s name was changed into Sinalco, word coined from Latin words sine alcohol meaning – without alcohol and it was not long before it became a most popular drink in Europe. In 1937 the new logo was produced – a big red circle with Sinalco inscribed and by the mid-century the characteristic form of the bottle was introduced.

At the beginning posters were commissioned from those artists who used in their work only colours and brushes which later was replaced by modern posters which were the outcome of marketing concepts and product of publicity agencies’ designers. The artistic approach applied in advertising Sinalco was always guided by the tenor of the times, fashion trends and taste of the epoch.

Sinalko plakatThe promotion campaigns of Sinalco started their travelling through times with the 1910s when the international movement known in art history as Art Nouveau or Jugendstil was flourishing. In an effort to redefine the relation towards art, bring it closer to everyday life and do away with borderline related to applied art, Art Nouveau was based on postulations of a modern society relying on new body of knowledge, understanding and technologies. When graphic art is concerned, this movement known in Germany as Jugendstil was marked by distinct elements of local traditionalism like the use of a precise, strict line and typographic peculiarities. Sinalco posters from that epoch often bring into play the motif of sensual, delicate and elegant images of women.

Sinalko plakatIn the period between the two World Wars promotion campaigns of Sinalco reflect the prevailing spirit of the Art Deco by applying typical colouration, geometrical forms and decorative motifs. At the beginning of the 1970s Sinalco was the first among German brands to turn to Pop-Art as artistic expression used in its promotion campaigns. Popular culture and everyday life of consumer society were used as motifs expressed by distinct and simple graphic style and often by allusions – provocative or witty they addressed younger generations as their target group in the first place.

The exhibition Sinalco Art Tour offers the possibility for gaining better insight into the role, which economic and marketing priorities played in graphic designs of Sinalco posters through epochs and art movements of the twentieth century.