PMA poster - International Paper

Shirley Chapman, artist, shows off the 2008 PMA poster on the show floor on Oct. 26.

Next time you attend a PMA, make sure you stop by the International Paper booth for the official show poster. Chapman, based in Fremont, Calif., is an artist who has designed the PMA poster for the past six years, and I visited with her about the process. She says the acrylic painting that is the basis for the poster takes about 100 hours to create. The posters look a little like the old fruit labels, and Chapman said that is the look she likes to create for the collector item posters.

"There have people who have been collecting since way before I started," she said. This year, about 3,000 posters were printed, and typical runs are between 4,000 and 5,000. Chapman numbers and signs all the posters while she is at the show, and she said she has been told the posters are hung up in offices all around the world.

The PMA official poster has been a part of the show for about 18 years.

The PMA board of directors doesn't get to see the poster until the week before the show, she said. Roger Rasor, Manager of Graphics and Advertising for International Paper, this year presented posters to the PMA chairman for 2008 and the convention chair at an International Paper-sponsored dinner Thursday before Fresh Summit.

In the bag of stuff taken home from PMA, the official show poster should always be accounted for.