One object, one word.

In 1906 a young Lucian Bernhard entered a poster contest for Priester matches. Legend has it he kept removing things — the ashtray, the cigar, everything else on the table — until only two matches and the brand name were left. It won, and the Sachplakat, the “object poster”, was born.

A hundred and twenty years later it is still the most useful rule we know for a poster that has to live in a home. A living room already has enough objects in it.

Remove the ashtray.