Oh, the places you’ll go

Can an advertisement be a work of art? Let’s take the travel poster for example. Posters date back to the 19th century, but travel posters really had their golden age after World War I to the 1960s.

Library of Congress/2007676131

There was something very dynamic and inspiring in those posters from that time. They usually used one colorful, attractive image and limited type to grab attention and propel action – to go visit a place.

It wasn’t photos they used, but colorful illustrations that could be more imaginative than a photograph.

They made the places they were advertising look like fun, attractive, desirable destinations. They were created on behalf of railroad companies, the airlines and, of course, tourist agencies.

Library of Congress/2015646698

Those old posters are collector items now. The U.S. Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division (https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/travel-posters.html)

has tons of them to view online. They are beautiful and nostalgic.

What’s old is new again. But instead of promoting destinations around our globe, like Casablanca, Rome or the Grand Canyon, there’s a series of posters now that tout places to visit that are a touch farther away – well, more than a touch actually.

More like millions of miles away, even billions.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a series of travel posters with the theme “Visions of the Future.” Maybe it’s science fiction still, but JPL would have us wanting to take off for Ceres, “Queen of the Asteroid Belt,” or to “Discover Life Under the Ice” on Europa.

The poster for Jupiter, encouraging tourists to experience its “mighty auroras,” is particularly beautiful.

But travel in JPL’s future isn’t limited to our solar system; there are posters for places even more exotic and far-away. How would you like to “Experience the Gravity of a Super Earth?” There’s a poster featuring a futuristic base jumper on HD 40307g.

Looking for glamorous enjoyment? Check out “Where the Nightlife Never Ends!” – PSO J318.5-22. “Lava Life: Skies Sparkle Above a Never-Ending Ocean of Lava” is the slogan for 55 Cancri e.

Artists, designers and illustrators in JPL’s The Studio designed the 14 posters in the series, which had its origins in a series about exoplanets, those worlds far beyond our home and sun. JPL is, after all, the program at NASA that searches for and studies exoplanets.

So the poster designers worked with NASA engineers and researchers to create these lavish travel advertisements.

I know we can’t get to Venus’ “Cloud 9 Observatory” or “Planet Hop” from Trappist-1e yet. But we can let our imaginations loose for a while and enjoy these posters in the meantime.

JPL even lets you print them out for free to hang on your wall. Current sizes are 20 by 30 inches. (Visions of the Future (nasa.gov))

Next stop: Kepler 16b, “The Land of Two Suns: Where Your Shadow Always Has Company.”

Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech