Every year the association 100 Beste Plakate e. V. recognizes the most innovative and trendsetting poster designs from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in its annual awards. Its yearbook has become the established go-to source for graphic artists, designers, and advertisers. Even today, the traditional printed poster is still regarded as the ultimate challenge in the graphic arts.

Even though cultural life was still affected by the pandemic in 2021, museums and theaters kept their doors open most of the time to brighten people’s lives with exhibitions and performances. As a result, the advertisements and announcements designed for these shows made up the bulk of the entries for the competition. They provide an overview of the hottest trends and finest designs in poster art in German-speaking countries. Posters for cultural events explore the scope of imaginative image creation by using graphic, typographic, and photographic elements in exciting ways. 

In addition to shedding light on design trends, the award-winning posters also address issues of historical and topical concern that were relevant to the world of culture in 2021. Thus, the pioneering silent movies The Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari and Nosferatu were released 100 years ago, and the 50th anniversary of the introduction of women’s suffrage offered a welcome opportunity to give visual expression to questions about the progress of gender equality.