MODERN DOG: 20 YEARS OF POSTER ART

Step Inside Design, Mar/Apr 2008

MODERN DOG: 20 YEARS OF POSTER ART by Mike Strassburger & Robynne Raye $27.50, hardcover, 160 pages, Chronicle Books (www.chroniclebooks.com)

Chronicled in the Nov./Dec. 2007 issue of STEP, the 20th anniversary celebration of Modern Dos rolls on. Modern Dog: 20 Tears of Poster Art is the book marking the Seattle firms milestone.

Readers will find seriously groundbreaking design work in the array of posters faithfully reproduced in the book. But as you might expect from a studio known for its hip, corrosive, un-PC design, there is also savage humor to be found here-thanks in part to revealing interviews with Robynne Raye and Mike Strassburger by both Rick Valicenti and James Victore. Those aren't the only big names to take part. In an introductory essay titled "Modern Dogism," Steven Heller reflects on the roots of Modern Dog, and how Strassburger and Raye came to be who they are today. Heller also wonders about what might have been, had the pair never met and formed their lasting partnership: "... Robynne and Michael's beloved Seattle-a land of punk poster plenty-would have been bereft of a critical mass of generation-defining poster design: posters that speak to both time and place, and now form an integral part of modern design history," he writes. "... this duo's distinct brand of comic audacity and ribald wit-as well as their quirky marriages of kitsch and kook, their viscerally brutish lettering, craggy lines, and clashing colors, among other signature Modern Dog traits-would not have surfaced, nor influenced, nor entertained. And man, have they entertained."

Modern Dog also directs their talents to raise awareness for social and political causes they hold dear. Often confrontational, always thoughtful, the posters in the Social Issues section have had an impact on their intended audiences. To illustrate this point, alongside Raye's "Pardon My French" poster for the Hurricane Poster Project is correspondence from a post-Katrina New Orleans resident who wrote Modern Dog to express her gratitude.

Other sections showcase some of Strassburger and Raye's favorite posters in the categories of Theater, Music, Events and Self-Promo. With most of the book's 200 posters, the designers also provide behind-the-scenes dish-detailing creation of the works, their reception, and background information about the client or event to help put the solutions into context.

Is this a trip down memory lane or a short sojourn in the mind of the mad? Either way, the significance of Modern Dog's body of work is unassailable, and Raye, Strassburger & co. continue to jar complacency and disrupt perceptions with their challenging visions. This volume's entertainment value alone is sufficient reason for owning it, but it also demonstrates why Modern Dog has earned international acclaim-and a place in the permanent collections of libraries and museums around the world.