Star Wars Transit Authority

Our Collections Manager, Melissa Walker, writes about our latest acquisition!

It’s not every day that you encounter a Stormtrooper, and that is what The Star Wars Transit Authority is banking on when you see one of their posters on the subway. This series of guerrilla poster work parodies the MTA’s style with an added immersive galactic experience.

On Instagram it is described as “The home for all key Imperial travel announcements and Star Wars Transit Authority updates.”

Abraham Truzman, the mind behind the project, said that the initial idea came out of a conversation with a friend about how some locations in New York aligned with locations in the Star Wars universe. For instance, Endor, the moon inhabited by Ewoks, was clearly Central Park—and Mos Eisley, the dangerous space port described as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy,” is most certainly Penn Station.

At first, Truzman tried to create a map based on the subway that outlined all these ideas, but quickly realized what a massive undertaking it was. He then created the first text-only poster for the SWTA. Disguised as a weekend service change poster that all New Yorkers love to hate, it explained that Tie Fighters could not make stops at the Death Star all weekend.

Truzman, a copywriter by trade, wanted to take the gag a step further with graphic posters that took advantage of the MTA’s distinctive style.

He also started an Instagram account for documenting the pieces, and found that very visually attentive New Yorkers would send him pictures of his work.

His Instagram caught the attention of the Poster House team, and we are happy to announce that the Star Wars Transit Authority gifted us 6 posters for our Living Archive collection!

The Living Archive at Poster House is a collection of contemporary posters gathered from around the world. We reach out to designers, ad agencies, and companies to grow a Living Archive of exceptional contributions to the poster medium being made now.

When Truzman showed up to deliver the posters, he did so in a Stormtrooper costume. It was a surprise to all staff members and made patrons do a double take. As I am a cinephile and fully opinionated about the Star Wars films, we had a coffee in Café des Affiches and discussed the various ways in which the franchise has let us down.

Poster House’s Living Archive features hundreds of contemporary posters being made now. If you know of any amazing poster campaigns, drop us a note on Instagram!