The book that started it all.. (Auchlich, 2007).
Robert found this book War Posters- Weapons of Mass Communication in the Library and studied it for us. He summarised a look of his findings and reported back to us. Robert noted that there were different approaches to war posters, depending on the region and time of print.
For example, in World War 1 the American’s favoured product sales.
We also noted the variety of audiences that the posters targeted;
- The women- to join organisations like the Woman Army and to help do the jobs the men were missing from (factory work)
- The men- recruitment, loose lips sink ships
- General advice posters- black out prevention, letting strangers into your house during an air raid
- Saving waste- saving scraps, recycling, using clothing
Another book for layout advice. (Laundy and Vignelli, 1980).
I also found a book on graphic design by Massimo Vignelli and Peter Laundy. Graphic Design for Non Profit Organizations gave quite a lot of advice on layout and creating a clear message;
- “Consistency” was noted as a key aspect, giving what the book called as a “visual identity.” This could be through a colour scheme, logo or layout.
- Creating a clear layout was also mentioned as a great aspect, separating the text and image help keep a clear mindset.
- The poster should lack clutter, which ever images are used should be enough to give a clear meaning- the text doesn’t need to be there to tell the story. (Laundy and Vignelli, 1980).
References
Aulich, J. (2007). War posters. New York: Thames & Hudson.
Laundy, P. and Vignelli, M. (1980). Graphic design for non-profit organizations. New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Graphic Arts.
