Representation of Symbols and Signage of Ancient Iranian Festivals in Contemporary Posters

Abstract

Many ancient ceremonies and rituals of Iran, in addition to their ritualistic and humanitarian characteristics, have a role in social and economic affairs and have remained stable within the economic, social and cultural structure of the society. Since graphics is an art related to the community, the artists’ awareness of various cultural backgrounds and familiarity with the identity of the society and its proper use is inevitable. The present research studies the presence of some of the most important symbols of Iranian festivals in posters. Using a descriptive-analytic method, the following two questions are answered; what are the visual expression techniques implemented in designing posters related to Iranian festivals? and how have Iranian festivals become figurative in contemporary posters? In response to the questions, it has been tried to identify the way to reflect Iranian festivals in posters, and therefore the appearance of these symbols has been assessed. The aim of this study is to peruse the techniques that have been used by the designer to portray them. The present study has analyzed 15 contemporary posters and has examined five important posters related to ancient Iranian festivals and found that the designer has directly used symbols related to each festival in most of the artworks studied. In the analysis of the artworks related to the celebrations, most of the general structures of the artwork were of an original and combined form in detail. In these posters, artists have tried to communicate with the audience using techniques such as typography and printing, and visual elements such as rhythm, texture, color, form, and symbols. This function has strong and weak points in expressing concepts. This research has been able to determine these points through the structure analysis of the posters.