Revolution in the head - sixties

Bsonnie MacLean was one of the only female artists involved in the music scene of the 1960s she created concert posters for the Fillmore rock concerts and was heavily influenced by art nouveau and the psychedelic style of the time.  
Bonnie MacLean was an integral part of Bill Graham’s organisation when she took over poster design in 1967 after Wes Wilson quit. MacLean’s early work was highly inspired by Wes Wilson. A lot of her work was inspired by Medieval, Gothic and other European imagery. She created precise drawing and lettering. Over time her posters matured, developing a definite identity as she became more comfortable within the genre, where she ultimately forged a unique poster style that celebrated illustrative portraiture and swirling, psychedelic typography.

Wes Wilson, April 1-2, 1967, 'featuring The Byrds, Moby Grape, Andrew Staples'

Bonnie Maclean, 1967, 'The Who, Loading Zone' 

​In 1967, making unusual posters was a popular thing for illustrators of the time, many of them having connections with the music promoter Bill Graham. Maclean experimented with bright contrasting colours and optical illusions which made reference to the  visual effects of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. The detailed and slightly illegible typography used on many psychedelic posters, as well as swirling lines, was supposedly  a visual meaasge, who those already indoctrinated to psychedelics could read. However it was also inspired by earlier design movements, such as Art Nouveau. 

Bonnie Maclean, 1967 'Pink Floyd'

Wes Wilson, November 18-19, 1996, featuring Grateful Dead, James Cotton Blues Band, Lothar & the Hand People 

The two pieces above are another example of the similarity between Bonnie Maclean and Wes Wilsons work. in terms of the layout of their page and the warmth of their colour palettes it is easy to see where Maclean has taken her inspiration. However I do also find differences between their way of working which includes the fact that Maclean's typography is much more legible than Wes Wilsons, making hers less like that of the hallucinogenic style, but probably a more  successful poster design, as more people can read it.