Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which the affected person perceives one sense simultaneously with another (like tasting colors or hearing shapes). Many famous artists, writers, and musicians have reported experiencing this, leading some to hypothesize that it contributes to their art. Jazz composer and trumpeter Miles Davis spoke openly about seeing sound, a concept Kieser may be attempting to reference in this poster in which kaleidoscopic swirls of color dance across the musician’s face. In 1969, Davis also began to incorporate more rock and psychedelic elements in his sound. This shift had occurred the year before the tour advertised in this poster, and Kieser would likely have listened to the album Bitches Brew as he worked on the design. The undulating colors may also be intended to evoke the lava lamp-style light shows often presented at venues like the Fillmore East on New York City’s Lower East Side where Davis started playing. Kieser used Letraset’s Zipper typeface to create the text in this poster, a dot from an exclamation point or question mark serving as the point above the “i” in “Davis” rather than the standard-issue tittle (the dot on the top of the lowercase letter i). The typeface had only been released by the company in 1970, and Kieser would have needed to align each letter before rubbing them onto a transparent sheet that he then placed over the original composition before it was photographed for printing.