Posters for Disneyland Hotel, 1956; Skyway, 1956; Autopia, 1955; and Tomorrowland, 1966

"Advertising the Disneyland Hotel and Tomorrowland theme-park attractions, these large, colorful, silk-screen posters suggest a design mash-up—modernist traditions churned through the Disney machine of nostalgia and futuristic utopianism. Inspirations included the aesthetics of Works Progress Administration murals and world’s fair promotional materials, as well as Aronson’s work as a travel-poster designer. The Tomorrowland posters reflect Walt Disney’s vision of a place that celebrated the 'constructive things to come.' In the case of Autopia, the idealized driving experience seemed to include congestion-free highways that anyone—even children—could joyfully navigate. (Incidentally, architectural historian and critic Reyner Banham gave highway culture the name 'Autopia' in laying out the four types of environments, or ecologies, that define L.A.’s built environment. The distinctive visual oomph of these modern-ish delicacies was not lost on the local design community. Deborah Sussman said that even her former employer Charles Eames paid attention to Disney’s graphics, because they were so well done. As she puts it: 'You could laugh with it, rather than at it.'"—Louise Sandhaus, Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936-1986, pp. 60