It is 1969.

The year is 1969, The Rolling Stones are going on tour and David Byrd has designed a concert poster that is adaptable to each city they're playing in. The year is 2009, The Rolling Stones are still going on tour (unbelievable) and we now hang their old advertisements on the wall as a work of art. Why? Aside from collecting rock memorabilia, this particular poster could (and in my opinion, does) stand alone as a beautiful piece of art. It was during this time period that a revival of art nouveau occurred, influencing many of the artists that were designing concert posters of the 60's. For the first time since it's origination by Alfonse Mucha, art nouveau spoke loudly and graphically for rock and roll. As seen here, the most prominent figure is the nude woman surrounded by a design that is a very distinct fashion. Everything is encompassed in some kind of framework and positioned symmetrically throughout the entire piece. The distinction between classical and 60's art nouveau is seen in the use of colors. These concert posters boasted psychedelic, almost acidic and often contrasting colors as opposed to the former shades of earth tones and muted colors. The cool palette of colors dominates the scene with a hint of warm tones to set off the figure. In this instance I think the use of both tones work hand in hand to accentuate and define the piece without being the slightest bit distracting. The influence of nature that is present (for instance, the moon reigning over the poster) provides a dream like quality that would probably take even more precedence without the text that is present. The text is a very appropriate font, it mirrors the style of the poster and reinforces the message by using a contrasting color of orange against the purple. There was a lot of thought put into the design of this artwork given what it's purpose was, the bottom of the poster was left blank to provide space to write in the concert information but is done so in an aesthetically pleasing manner with a gradual fade out to the bottom. I wish concert posters today still had the same grabbing effect and artistic influence as seen here but I guess rock and roll will never be the same as it once was.