The Rodney Matthews tradition in poster design can be traced back to the early Sixties when he designed posters advertising his own rock band, posters announcing music events in the Bristol area and silk screen posters in several colours for a Bristol printer and merchandiser (example shown). However, his first full colour poster (derived from an unused record cover design) was 'The Last Armada' for the Big O poster company in 1974. This was followed by 'In Search of Forever' (another unused record cover design), the subject of Matthews' bomb experience in 1974 (see History section). Many more posters followed for Big O until their demise in 1980. Matthews continued to design posters for other companies: Wizard & Genius AG (Zürich, Switzerland), Anabas, Fine Arts, Pace Minerra, and Picture Sales who all marketed his work on an international scale. A notable series of twelve posters published by Big O were the Michael Moorcock range depicting scenes and characters from his books. These were published during 1976 & 77 and were later to appear as a calendar for 1978 titled 'Wizardry and Wild Romance'.

The following is a selection from the well over eighty Matthews illustrations published as posters since 1974.