Paradiso poster history

The first poster for Paradiso, designed by Willem de Ridder in 1968, reflects the rebellious spirit of this new cultural venue through its psychedelic colors and patterns. De Ridder combined influences from international hippie movements and Dutch counterculture.

In the 1970s, in-house designer Martin Kaye played a key role. He brought a distinctive typographic style from the UK, giving Paradiso its first recognizable visual identity. His posters, with bold colors and simple shapes, literally spoke to the public from the façades of Amsterdam.

In the 1980s, a new generation of graphic designers introduced a fresh style to Paradiso posters, characterized by more symbolism, humor, and originality. These designs played with the audience's expectations, creating surprising visual experiences, often with abstract and ironic interpretations of artists and bands.

Technological advancements enabled graphic designers to experiment with photo editing, collage techniques, and new graphic elements. This perfectly aligned with the sense of freedom that dominated the decade.

Concert posters from this period reflected the influence of the digital revolution on graphic design. Social media and email newsletters became increasingly important for concert promotion. As a result, posters partially lost their communicative function and took on a new role as artistic expressions.

In this time period, online marketing became dominant. While promotion was initially focused on static images, text, and photos, it shifted towards video by the late 2010s with the rise of Instagram and TikTok. In 2017, Paradiso introduced its first complete visual identity, designed by Experimental Jetset.