Your Poster Choices

By Lev Novak

When it comes to decorating your walls, you have a few options. But, unless you inherited a series of weird paintings by a great uncle (more on that later) posters are probably your best bet.

The question is; what kind of posters are you going to get?

This question, repeated through dorms and apartments for generations comes to a head in this post. What are you going to do?

I have your back.

1. Anything That’s Been Done

You are not allowed to have band posters or any poster that you’ve seen in the background of a show. This rules out Bob Marely, Pink Floyd, and any poster that would actively make your parents cringe. Posters of alcohol and scantily clad women only show that you have so little experience with either that you need a poster of them.

Sports posters are questionable, but a historic (including recent history) shot is cool. A poster of Varitek fighting A-Rod is terrific; a generic picture of the Red Sox is a little more boring.

“Cool” movies are super lame, too. No posters of The Boondock Saints, please. Snakes on a Plane is a maybe. A photoshopped poster for Snakes on a Plane 3: Return Of B’Nengle is a strong yes.

2. Anything That’s Not a Poster

Ah yes; posters can be made through a strong mix of paper and tape.

Old comic book pages (and advertisements) was the decor of my first apartment, and I highly recommend them. As a teacher, I hung up a picture one of my students drew of weird planes and trucks invading a country. I also have a map of NYC up, which is useful since I always get confused with the trains.

My room is thus decorated without posters, and it looks pretty nice. Think outside the box when it comes to posters and you’ll be rewarded with a cool house.

3. “Art” posters

Of course, there are very artsy posters.

An “artsy” poster will show everyone how cultured and cool you are, and trick perhaps your dumbest friend- woah, you have the Mona Lisa? Besides that, it’s a nice way to decorate your apartment with some of the greatest art in history. That’s not a bad deal.

The deal is you’re allowed one artistic poster. Any more and you look pretentious and dumb.

I recommend finding a new artist to show off, especially a painter who matches the feel of your apartment. Jay-Z’s favorite, Basquiat has posters for sale and they look awesome. Google them after this, because darn, I’m going to get one right now.

4. Old Stuff

Anything old is new.

Retro is always in, so go through your house. Your grandfather’s hoard of weird old magazines might have hidden weird posters in them. Or your great-uncle might have been a painter, and hey, this political painting against Ronald Reagan is pretty awesome. Set it up.

Old things are also harder to replicate than old things. Roll through your vintage shops, and get your Macklemore on.

Share this article: