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InspirationGraphic Design

PosterLad: Award-winning project boasts posters inspired by '90s graphics, VHS packaging, and Bauhaus

Taking inspiration from old VHS packaging, '90s graphics and retro culture, together with a strong influence of Bauhaus, this growing series of poster designs by Czech designer Vratislav Pecka is proving ever-popular with the creative community.

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Two framed posters on a white brick wall: one with a geometric design featuring an orange circle, blue triangle and horizontal stripes, and another with a chaotic tangle of colourful interwoven lines, with potted plants below

A winner of an A' Design Award in 2019 and German Design Award this year – along with huge popularity on Instagram – PosterLad is a side passion project which began in 2016, hoping to "reinvent the perception of posters". Today, it's a profitable venture with posters available to purchase online and shipped across the world.

"A poster does not have to always promote – a product or an event," says Vratislav. "Instead, the designer is using the medium to express his design ideas and unique thinking in terms of approaching poster design as fine art."

Vratislav mainly uses simple shapes, geometrically aligned layouts or organically shaped lines and vivid colours in his poster designs. "It's all about pleasing the viewer's eye," he adds. "Because the world needs good looking things."

Based in Amsterdam, Vratislav studied video editing and animation before moving into the world of graphic design. He freelanced for more than a decade before setting up his own studio with his sister. His side project, PosterLad, began a few years later and has become the main focus. It was inspired by a quote from Wes Anderson's Rushmore when the character Max Fischer said: "I guess you've just gotta find something you love to do and then... do it for the rest of your life."

Designs on PosterLad are split into categories: popular, minimalist, VHS packaging, and organic. Over 500 posters have been shipped globally since the project began four years ago. Browse the posters yourself at posterlad.com.

Modern white sideboard displaying geometric and abstract PosterLad designs, stacked books, wire vases and hanging pendant lights
Two framed PosterLad posters featuring bold geometric shapes and circles in blue, orange, yellow, green and pink displayed above a grey sofa with gold cushions
Three framed PosterLad posters with wooden frames displayed against a white background, featuring abstract geometric shapes in black, pink, orange and gradient colours
Three framed PosterLad designs hung above a grey sofa, featuring geometric shapes, bold colours and Bauhaus-inspired layouts
Two framed PosterLad designs: left shows colourful overlapping geometric triangles in blue, orange, yellow and green; right features organic shapes in orange, teal and black on white background
Two framed PosterLad designs hung on a white wall above a cream armchair, with potted plants and a round rug below
Geometric PosterLad design featuring bold shapes in blue, orange, yellow and red arranged in a grid pattern, with a guitar case leaning against it on a wooden floor
Collection of vibrant PosterLad designs by Vratislav Pecka featuring geometric shapes, bold colours and Bauhaus-inspired layouts arranged in an overlapping display
Man holding Habitat 67 poster with geometric shapes in blue, orange and red, standing by an Amsterdam canal with historic buildings behind
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