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As part of our ongoing Speaker Series, Watson had the honor of hosting Andrea Marks—a celebrated design educator, documentarian, and visual historian who has spent the better part of two decades exploring the intersection of art, culture, and political dissent.
Marks is best known for her film Freedom on the Fence, a 40-minute documentary that chronicles the Polish School of Posters, a movement that emerged during the 20th century under Communist rule in Poland. What started as an academic exchange grant from Oregon State University turned into a global journey through archives, studios, and conversations with artists who quite literally made design under pressure.
In the postwar decades between the 1950s and 1980s, the streets of Warsaw and Kraków weren’t flooded with ads. Instead, they became impromptu galleries of illustrated thought—posters for theater, ballet, and film, designed not with marketing budgets but with wit, subversion, and layers of symbolism.
When the government controlled the press, the poster became an indirect voice of the people. Art was tolerated—but only to a point. The genius of the Polish School lay in its ambiguity: layered visuals, coded meanings, visual metaphors. The result was a new kind of communication, one that evaded censorship while sparking conversation.
“Freedom on the Fence reminds us that these weren’t just posters—they were paper-thin acts of rebellion,” said Marks.
During her visit to Watson, Marks didn’t just show the film. She brought the work itself. Dozens of original posters from different political eras lined the studio—raw, expressive, arresting. From the surrealism of Wiktor Sadowski’s My Fair Lady to the absurdist brushwork of Henryk Tomaszewski, each piece invited reflection on what design is truly capable of: not just decoration, but direction.
In an age where most design is tasked with conversion, it was a breath of fresh air to be reminded that design can also be about conversation.
“There was something grounding about it,” said Matt Watson. “The kind of clarity that sneaks up on you. It reminded us that what we make can still matter—even when we’re not measuring it in likes or lift.”
Marks’ visit landed at a time when many of us in the creative space are questioning the function and ethics of our work. When every brand wants a movement and every campaign wants a cause, her deep dive into authentic, context-driven design was more than educational—it was necessary.
What do we stand for?
What are we willing to say through design?
And what does it mean to do meaningful work under constraint?
These are the questions Andrea Marks has been asking for over 20 years. And we’re better off for being invited into the conversation.
