The poster can hold a great amount of expressive power. With its invention in the late 18th century, this mass produced art form has touched numerous creators and their audiences. The poster was intended to reach many with as little resources as possible, making it the preferred medium for activists and advertisers alike. Combining paper, ink and vision, graphic designers Alice Drueding and Joe Scorsone have articulated a variety of social, political and economic concepts. On Thursday, Feb. 22, these artists came to West Chester University to share their wisdom with the creative community.
Scorsone and Drueding have been a team since 1986. Before pursuing an artistic relationship, which would later develop into a lifetime partnership, the two started off as coworkers. After graduating college, Drueding started working at a small studio in New York City. In a short amount of time, she lost enthusiasm for the job, and realized it was not something she wanted to continue doing.
She then returned to school and graduated without an idea of how to go forward. On her quest for a freelancing opportunity, Drueding met Scorsone. They were employed at the same design studio for several years.
Drueding, reflecting on her experiences as a young designer entering the field, imparted a word of advice for the several dozen students in the Ware Auditorium of the Swope Music Building. She stated, “It’s great to have plans, and it’s great to have none at all. Life will often present you with opportunities you don’t expect.”
Her statement proved true to their lives in more ways than one. While working together, the economy took a turn for the worst. The National Endowment for the Arts significantly lost federal funding, meaning most of their smaller clients—like dance studios and public theatres—could no longer stay open. This was the beginning of Drueding and Scorsone’s collaboration on outside projects. The graphic artists both shared a religious background, which influenced their first personal piece. Drueding elaborated: “We were both recovering Catholics, so we thought [depicting] sin would be a good way to start.” This poster was ultimately the first in a series featuring topics like guilt, confession, fate and risk.
Soon after, they changed gears and moved on to covering topics with socio-economic implications. Drueding stated, “We were doing personal stuff that had a lot of appeal, but we saw things going on around the world . . . these weren’t personal things, but we knew we had to come up with a response.”
The artists have since continued addressing serious subject matter. “The [posters] we’ve made, which are now all we do, prove themselves more relevant with time,” Drueding told the audience, going on to say, “That is what drives us to keep going.”
The pair flipped through a slideshow of images illustrating current issues like climate change, animal abuse, civil rights, gun violence and war. Scorsone spoke about the passion that inspires them to make art on such topics. He stated, “One poster is not going to change the world, but this is the way we express ourselves . . . the creative community has the ability to be a powerful voice.”
In a private interview with Drueding, she shared the first impression she wants viewers to have of her and Scorsone’s posters. She said, “I want them to see the message before they see the art. What Joe and I do is meaningless without a message. Our art simply acts as a vehicle for what we are trying to say. Posters are a tool for advertising . . . a way to get activism out.”
Drueding and Scorsone’s designs are well-known around the world. They have been featured in countless exhibits within the U.S. as well as Mexico, Australia, Russia, Germany, China and France.
They received several awards including the Thirteenth International Biennial of the Poster in Mexico (Gold Medal), the Triennial Ekoplagát 14 (First Prize) and the Lahti Poster Biennial in Finland. Aside from their global outreach, Drueding and Scorsone donned the title of Professor Emeritus at Tyler School of Art in Temple University. The two once taught Tyler alumni and West Chester University graphic design professors David Jones and Karen Watkins.
Following the lecture, the audience attended a viewing at the John Baker gallery in the E.O. Bull center. Regarding the event, student John Kaupus commented, “Meeting Joe Scorsone and Alice Drueding was truly inspiring. Seeing all of the work they made and seeing their creative process for each poster was truly inspiring. Listening to them talk about their back story was very humbling.”
Drueding and Scorsone are designers with a purpose. They create art that shares activist messages and reaches spectators across continents. The exhibit is no longer on display, however the artists’ pieces can be found on their website. For more information, contact David Jones at djones2@wcupa.edu or Karen Watkins at kwatkins@wcupa.edu.
Tara Shachter is a fourth-year student majoring in graphic design with a minor in information technology. ✉ TS830070@wcupa.edu.