The College of Design hosted the inaugural United States International Poster Biennial (USIPB) exhibition from Oct. 5–26 in Gallery 181, located on the first floor of the Design building on the west side of Iowa State’s campus.

The traveling juried exhibition featured 260 posters in five topic categories — Social, Cultural, Animated, Inclusion, and U.S. Poster — selected from 7,380 entries submitted by professional and student artists, graphic designers, photographers, and visual communicators from 75 countries.

Exhibition viewing hours were 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and by special appointment. The gallery was closed on weekends and university holidays. Admission was free.

Opening Reception and Awards Presentation
The USIPB 2023 show opened at Iowa State with a reception and awards presentation from 4–6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the gallery, with remarks beginning at 4:30 p.m. Speakers included:

  • Introductions and Closing Remarks: Viviana Urvina, USIPB executive producer
  • Welcome: Luis Rico-Gutierrez, Iowa State College of Design dean, and Paul Bruski, Iowa State graphic design department chair
  • The History of the Poster: Ryan Slone, USIPB vice president and co-founder and University of Arkansas assistant professor of graphic design
  • The USIPB and the Contemporary Poster: Christopher Scott, USIPB president and co-founder and Iowa State assistant teaching professor of graphic design
  • The Future of the USIPB: Bernard Canniffe, USIPB executive producer and Iowa State associate professor of graphic design

Awards were presented to national winners in three categories, including:

  • Miriam Martincic, Iowa State assistant teaching professor of graphic design, Category C: Animated (Professional)
  • Nick Mendoza, Oklahoma State University assistant professor of graphic design, Category B: Cultural (Professional)
  • Erin Sedra, Missouri State University graduate student in visual studies, Category A: Social (Student)

The award levels (gold, silver, bronze) were announced at the event.

Following its run at Iowa State, the exhibition traveled to the Downtown Long Beach District in Long Beach, California; Purdue University; Temple University; and the University of Arkansas. Additional venues were being planned across the U.S. and internationally in Poland and China.

The exhibition was juried by Rikke Hansen, Angelina Lippert, Saki Mafundikwa, Woody Pirtle, Drueding + Scorsone, Felipe Taborda, Xiao Yong, and Agnieszka Ziemiszewska. The USIPB logo and branding system were designed by Michael Braley, creative director of Braley Design in Lexington, Kentucky, who received a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from Iowa State in 1993. Following the reception, Braley presented a lecture on “The Art of the Poster” at 6 p.m. in Kocimski Auditorium, room 101 Design.

Christopher Scott co-founded the USIPB with Ryan Slone in May 2022. He received more than 300 international awards, including three Graphis Gold awards and an International Design Awards Silver award, and was recognized by organizations including Adobe, Amnesty International, Designboom, the Golden Bee Global Biennale of Graphic Design, the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, Poster for Tomorrow, and the World Wildlife Fund.

Scott was also the former president and founder of the Ecuador Poster Bienal, co-founder of Poster Poster, and founder of Designers Speak.