Heinz Edelmann Collection. Series 2, Item 71. Poster for WDR, 23.5 × 33.5.

Heinz Edelmann, like his contemporary Milton Glaser, had an incredible range of graphic styles, both in his mode of illustration and layout. This 1982 poster for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcaster’s series Reden muß man miteinander (roughly—correct me if I’m wrong—“We need to talk”) enlists an exceptional array of devices recalling the work of Seymour Chwast: there are similarities in the pattern, abstracted period stylization, and a floating quality to the shapes and forms, though imbued here with Edelmann’s more spastic bursts of emphasis. For comparison, see this Chwastian cat or this notable cover of Pushpin Graphic. Click through for the full poster.

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Heinz Edelmann’s book covers for Klett-Cotta.

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We looked at some of Edelmann’s political posters for the West German radio station WDR back in June. But there was also a lighter side to his collaboration with the broadcaster.

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For large patches of his later career Heinz Edelmann focused on quickly producing posters for arts events and series productions: these typically made use of a fairly regularized typographic template for information, and wild, allusive but enigmatic illustrations. For one season in the mid-1980s, he worked with the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus theater, playing off the plays’ angsty plotlines with evocatively deformed bodies.

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WDR. Die Ausgewogenheit (3): Die Scharfe, Aber Erlaubte Kritik [The Balance: The Pointed, But Allowed, Critique]. n.d.

In the 1970s and 1980s Heinz Edelmann designed many posters for the West German public broadcasting station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

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Left: Cover of Hot Chip’s One Life Stand (Astralwerks). Right: Poster for The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus). Designed by Heinz Edelmann, 33 × 47 in. n. d.

You were the cute bearded guy on the F train this morning. I was the somewhat pallid but classically beautiful girl. I thought we were a good match but it was as though we were pulled apart by powerful ropes. Want to have coffee sometime?

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Heinz Edelmann worked extensively with the Klett-Cotta press over the course of his career: we’ve collected some of his best jackets.

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Heinz Edelmann Collection: Folder 14 Item 93.

While preparing for a class visit a couple of weeks ago, I rediscovered these gorgeous posters Heinz Edelmann did for Theater der Welt (Theater of the World) in 1981.

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Esteemed designer and illustrator Heinz Edelmann passed away on Tuesday. I had the great pleasure of getting to know him a little bit while coordinating his gift to the Glaser Archives. He quickly became one of my favorite people to chat with; despite his deteriorating health, he was always charming and extremely funny. His mordant sense of humor betrayed a clear frustration with the current state of the world. Above are a couple of pages from his 2008 holiday card.

I feel very sad, but also grateful that we’ll be able help keep his legacy alive through his amazing body of work.

Enjoy a few of the acclaimed posters he produced for Germany’s Westdeutscher Rundfunk radio station after the jump. And click here for a characteristically witty and illuminating interview with Edelmann in Graphis.

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Direct from Stuttgart, we’ve received 151 posters and 9 books from the truly delightful Heinz Edelmann. Edelmann is best known as the influential art director of The Beatles’ film, Yellow Submarine. He’s worked in Germany, England and the Netherlands since the late 1950s, doing design, illustration, advertising and animation.

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