This poster is from the late 1950s and is beyond cool. It’s eye-catching, perfectly balanced and elegant. The ‘Jazz Contest’ event was organised by Brighton Art Students, who must have seemed like a shocking bunch of beatniks at the time. The poster was designed by one John Fenton, presumably a Brighton Art Student as well. There was probably a small print run and most would have been pinned or pasted onto a wall, like this one. I suspect there are not many left now. Is this, in fact, the only one left?
I have written about ephemera before and I am always on the look out for more items like this, not just to do with Brighton. I’m posting this today for two reasons: Firstly to say ‘hello’ to Beyond The Blue, a young jazz band from Brighton, who will be playing to a sold-out house at the Spiegeltent during the Brighton Festival. Like their beantnik predecessors they are all students. They have a modern, punky style and are so good they already have a recording contract. Secondly, good design is much on my mind at the moment. I am already planning the publicity for the next P.B.F.A. Brighton Book Fair in October. This year it will have a dedicated website. In the meantime, please do get in touch if you have any works on paper to sell –Â anything from a collection of old books to a piece of jazzy ephemera.
Brighton Art School, 1956. First edition. Original poster designed by John Fenton. It's about 21 inches by 30 inches, as we said back then.
