We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the International Poster Competition. 

It was an honour to welcome your work and see all of your inspiring posters.

The jury members were thoroughly impressed by the quality of work submitted and you made it an incredibly difficult process to select winners and the final selections for the International Poster Exhibition, International Poster Book and Poster World app. 

Each year a new jury is invited to review and critique the submissions. 

The competition is reviewed and co-curated by a new international jury each year. This year the jury includes Syndicat (France), Balmer Hählen (Switzerland), Sometimes Always (France/Brazil), Wanwai Shum (China/Netherlands), and Warriors Studio (Scotland, UK)

All posters are considered however the jury keep a particular eye open for posters which alter perceptions or ways of thinking, offer creative solutions to problems, contribute to current affairs, open dialogues for debate, provoke discussions and make innovative use of media or medium.

The 2024 competition received 2,341 works from 85 countries in 2024. All posters are designed between 2022-2024. 

We have curated 180 which we believe to be diverse and high quality for you to enjoy and consider.

These posters will be showcased in the International Poster Exhibition at Glue Factory in Glasgow, Scotland between 29th November – 5th December 2024, in Olympia Gallery and the Poster World app in collaboration with Nam Huynh and Sebastian Andre. These entries will also be showcased in the International Poster Book.

32 posters were awarded with jury commendations and 3 posters (or poster series) were selected as winners, and 1 poster received the Readymag award.

The jury are pleased to share with you the winners of 2024 International Poster Competition and posters given commendations below:

Congratulations to Maximage! Their poster ARSENIC Season Opening 23-24 was awarded 1st place in the 2024 International Poster Competition.

The poster was commissioned by ARSENIC— Centre d’art scénique contemporain, a cultural venue located in Lausanne which presents multi and cross-disciplinary shows and events in dance, theatre and performance. Maximage encouraged passers-by to interact with the poster by creating large panels of special ink with reduced adhesive properties—often used in scratch card games and so that it became more than a static object. Maximage’s interest in how posters evolve in public spaces through weather conditions, their location or how they are perceived by passers-by gave them the idea to create this interactive poster which subverted the traditional performance of posters in the street.

Selected jury’s comments

Syndicat: “This poster is a great example of Maximage’s interest and broad knowledge of printing techniques. And how a technique usually used for gambling games can take on its full meaning for the announcement of the new season of the Arsenic Contemporary Performing Arts Center.”

Sometimes Always: “Posters around the city often tend to be torn, ripped, overwritten and vandalised, This adds layers of different perspectives and narratives to the initial scope thus altering the original design. It is something that is beyond any designer’s control. By anticipating that, Maximage managed to create a design that is powerful even in its untouched version with the eye-catching bold black forms.”

Wanwai Shum: “It’s simple but impressive how the poster actively engages with its surroundings, encouraging interaction from passersby. The use of special ink recalls my thoughts of blackboards from childhood. The surrounding logos and elements around the text create a sense of openness, suggesting that the cultural venue is welcoming and eager to connect with its environment. Without the traces left from passersby, 3 blocks are outspoken and with the traces left on the ink, the overall tone changes to becoming immersive and unexpected.”

Balmer Hählen: “The poster’s strength lies in its visual simplicity: two black rectangles separated by a black stripe. It stood out from the other posters in the competition due to its visual impact. We also applaud the boldness of this creation.”

Warriors Studio: “This is a great example of a strong idea executed well. Inverting the established viewer/subject relationship of poster design is interesting but within this simple idea there are a number of threads which are deeper and potentially bring longer-term benefits to the theatre and the city itself.”

You can read the complete comments from each individual jury member in the International Poster Book

Manon Bruet’s poster series Biennale Souffle, designed in collaboration with Pia-Mélissa Laroche and ici l’onde—CNM, was awarded 2nd place in the 2024 International Poster Competition.

Biennale Souffle poster was commissioned by ici l’onde, a structure that promotes music and sound practices in Dijon and has been driven by listening experiences, artistic experimentation and social issues since its creation 25 years ago. The posters were designed to announce the biannual Souffle Festival, organised by ici l’onde and features a broad range of sonic experiences from acoustic and electronic music through to improvisation, performance and visual arts.

Manon looked to evoke sonic experiences without being “too literal” in the posters. French illustrator Pia-Mélissa Laroche drew a series of elements which Manon embedded across the festival campaign. These literal and abstract illustrative forms interplay with the festival information and typographic details to create an immersive sonic-inspired landscape within the posters. A hand holding a glass can be seen through a silver window and music symbols are brought to life as melting, thriving characters while typography dances between informing and playing throughout the composition.

You can discover themes of repetition, rhythm, containment and improvisation through the posters which capture the eclectic programming and approach of ici l’onde. The posters offer a glimpse into the atmosphere of the upcoming festival and the world of ici l’onde in an intelligent yet playful way.

Selected jury’s comments

Balmer Hählen: “We appreciate the structure of the poster combined with the illustrations. Two distinct visual languages come together yet create a sense of harmony. Through this poster, the concepts of rhythm, music, and varied sounds are skillfully represented. It provides a visual experience that perfectly aligns with the festival it promotes.”

Sometimes Always: “This poster is a great example of graphic design in its classic splendour. All the core elements that make good graphic design are presented here in a very cohesive and “correct” way, but still managing to be unique and attractive. Even though the posters follow most of the traditional graphic design rules, they still possess enough weirdness to capture the experimental DNA of the event they were designed for.“

Warriors Studio: “The poster is intricate and brimming with details, captivating the viewer’s attention and inviting them to explore the relationships between its various elements. I find myself drawn in, unable to stop examining each nuance. The design resonates with the event’s theme through a creative approach—the interplay between the typography and illustration feels like a harmonious improvisation, where each component contributes to a cohesive visual narrative. Neither element overpowers the other, allowing them to coexist beautifully as a series of balanced images.“

You can read the complete comments from each individual jury member in the International Poster Book

Emir Karyo’s poster Dungeon Keepers was awarded 3rd place in the INTL International Poster Competition.

Dungeon Keepers was designed for the duo exhibition of Stachu Szumski and Botond Keresztesi at Piana Gallery in Krakow, Poland which was produced with the interest of delving deeper into the layers of visual culture produced by humankind and uses elements of mining and dungeons as a metaphor for exploring these layers.

The poster expands on this concept with two worms representing the two artists burrowing through an apple atop an abstract mining landscape. Expressive strokes become a network of underground tunnels symbolising the two artists’ lines of enquiry and custom celtic-inspired typography creates a historical and fantastical tone. It was created with analog drawings and edited digitally before being inkjet printed. The playfulness, raw lines, intriguing colours, layered illustrations and chaotic composition created a strong impression and pulled the jury in to piece together the story behind the poster.

Selected jury’s comments

Warriors Studio: “Custom typography and hand drawn illustrations are layered into a chaotic composition which uses murky colours and gritty texturing to create an underground cave-like setting. Historical and mythological visual cues create a sense of travelling into the past while other elements like the digitally derived gallery logo and pixelation pull the poster into the present or future, echoing this idea of time exploration. It appears to flow effortlessly and blends multiple processes of creation into a tasty underground soup. While looking at this we feel intrigued, excited and curious. Everything you want from a poster!”

Wanwai Shum: “The typography design perfectly aligns with the overall visual style of the two artists, reflecting a playful yet raw aesthetic that draws the viewer in. Instead of highlighting the intricate details and vibrant colours in their work, the design employs metaphor to convey the exhibition’s concept. The visual storytelling feels rhythmic, with a dynamic composition that enhances the narrative.”

You can read the complete comments from each individual jury member in the International Poster Book

Maryna Zevako’s poster Abk KD Workshops received the Readymag Award at the INTL International Poster Competition.

Designed for the annual workshops at the Communication Design Department in Abk Stuttgart, Germany. The concept is a typography experiment, utilising the most kitschy fonts such as Luminary, Georgia, Acumin, Arial, DIN, Times New Roman, Papyrus, Emoji One, and Brush Script. The message emphasises that there are no wrong typefaces — only inappropriate contexts for their use.

Jury’s comments

Readymag: “When you don’t fully understand how something is made, that always catches your attention, and this work is one of such cases.

The combination of fonts and text styles in Maryna’s poster is difficult to figure out: whether such a set was chosen on purpose or appeared by chance, whether there is a series of experiments or a precise choice behind it, what is the connection between the foreground text and the background text. The result is a unique font composition that you want to look at, decipher and analyse.”