What happens to a poster after the exhibition ends?
For London-based designer and Verified People of Print Member Yuliya Ratnikova, that question became the starting point for something far bigger than a wall display.
Bear with Me is a poster print installation created by Yuliya Ratnikova and Anna Ganna, using 104 recycled posters and 10 cubic metres of discarded plastic bottles to form a life-sized bear sculpture. The project originally grew out of Poster Every Day, an international exhibition featuring 77 designers from 26 countries. Instead of allowing the printed works to become archive material or waste, the designers chose to treat them as raw material. The result is both tactile and symbolic.
The bear form was selected deliberately. It represents strength, but also ecological fragility. An animal powerful in presence, yet vulnerable in reality. By stitching layers of posters into a sculptural skin and filling the structure with locally collected plastic bottles, the team transformed design waste into a physical statement about responsibility, authorship, and environmental awareness.
“This project isn’t just about recycling posters,” Ratnikova explains. “It’s about rethinking what we leave behind as designers.”
The sculpture was created in late 2023 through a hands-on collaborative process involving local recycling initiative Manifest and exhibition curators. Every poster was carefully stitched into place, forming the outer layer of the bear. The interior, filled with 10 cubic metres of plastic bottles, anchors the piece in the reality of global waste systems.
Since its creation, the bear has taken on a nomadic life of its own. It was exhibited at Forward Festival in Berlin, where it stood as a reminder of reuse potential and the designer’s role in shaping more sustainable futures. There is currently one physical edition of the sculpture, though the concept may evolve into a broader series exploring other local waste systems and materials.
For Ratnikova, whose practice spans graphic design, branding, and visual experimentation, posters have long been a space for conceptual exploration. With Bear with Me, that exploration steps into three dimensions. The installation challenges the perceived lifecycle of print and asks whether exhibition materials can hold value beyond the moment of display.
Anna Ganna, founder of the Poster Every Day project and an internationally recognised poster designer and curator, brings her own history of communication design and exhibition practice to the collaboration. Together, they push the medium beyond the flat plane.
The project reframes print as something active and evolving. It asks whether designers can take responsibility not just for what they create, but for what remains after.
In a world saturated with imagery and material production, Bear with Me stands as a quiet but firm reminder that print does not need to end on the wall.
Websites:
https://formulastudio.co
https://yuliyara.com
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/centre_aligned
https://www.instagram.com/desig_ganna
As a Verified People of Print Member, Yuliya Ratnikova is part of our global network of designers and printmakers committed to thoughtful practice, ongoing visibility, and community support across the evolving landscape of contemporary print.
Want to know more about our membership? Give us an email at members@peopleofprint.com.
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