After the break-up of the USSR in 1991, many artefacts associated with Soviet life – from posters to gadgets – were discarded, destined to be forgotten. Founded in 2012, the Moscow Design Museum collects objects from the era, which form the basis of a new book, Designed in the USSR: 1950-1989 (Phaidon, £24.95). These film posters, made between 1957 and 1966, roughly coincide with the “Khrushchev thaw”, a period of increased liberalism that followed Stalin’s death. “They reflect their time well,” says the museum’s director, Alexandra Sankova. “At that time, design had an artistic expressiveness that reflected the thaw and dreams of a new, more open world.” Romance films and murder mysteries were popular, but “Soviet people loved comedies the most – they became classics of the genre. People still know them by heart.”