Wes Wilson, who helped create the trippy look associated with the second half of the 1960s through the vivid, swirling posters he made for rock shows by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and others, died on Jan. 24 at his home in Leanne, Mo. He was 82.

His son Jason confirmed his death. No cause was given.

Beginning in 1966, Mr. Wilson made posters for Bill Graham, who produced rock shows at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, as well as for Chet Helms of Family Dog Productions, who started at the Fillmore but soon moved to the Avalon Ballroom, not far away.

Posters had been used to advertise stage shows for decades, but most were utilitarian conveyors of date, time and place. Mr. Wilson, along with several other poster artists, took the form to a different level, one full of loud colors, attention-getting imagery and vibrant typography.

He was especially known for the free-flowing block lettering on his posters, which he adapted from a font created by the Austrian designer Alfred Roller.