Which one is the safest general-purpose choice?

WPA. It is civic rather than partisan, the flat screenprint shapes suit almost any subject, and a two-word headline forces the poster to be clear.

Why do the protest posters all use one colour?

Because they were printed overnight by hand. Each extra colour is another pass through the screen and another hour nobody had, so the tradition reduced to one ink on whatever paper was in the building.

How do I get the urgency without the politics?

Take the devices rather than the iconography. The low angle, the rising diagonal, the two-word headline and the single stencil silhouette all carry urgency on their own, without a fist or a flag in sight.

Propaganda and protest

Political traditions, and the visual rules each used to move people.

These are the posters that were made to change what somebody did next, and they are the best-designed sheets in this whole catalogue because the stakes were real. Four were printed by states and three against them, and the difference shows in the craft: a state poster is painted and printed properly, a protest poster is screened overnight on whatever paper was in the building. Borrowing the form is fine. Borrowing it without knowing whose it was is not, so each entry says who made it and why.

Printed by the state

Four government poster programmes. Different politics, the same job: make a citizen feel part of something and act accordingly.

WPA New Deal

Bold flat silkscreen shapes, a confident diagonal, and a short instruction in friendly capitals.

Soviet Propaganda

A heroic worker painted from below, red everywhere, and one shouted slogan.

Soviet Space Programme

A cosmonaut against the stars, a red orbital arc, and an optimism about outer space.

North Korean Propaganda

Saturated painted figures mid-stride, a rising diagonal, and colour turned past realism.

Printed against the state

Three protest traditions. All three were screenprinted fast, on whatever was available, by people who could be arrested for it.

Atelier Populaire

One black stencil image on coloured paper, screened overnight, with a handwritten line.

Cuban OSPAAAL

Flat psychedelic colour, a symbolic silhouette and a slogan, printed as a magazine insert.

ACT UP

One accusation set in plain heavy type, on black, with a single graphic symbol.

Make one of them

Copy a prompt into an image model and pay for that one run. No subscription.

Open an image model

Other style groups

Graphic design movementsThe movements, and the wording that gets the look of each one.18 design movements Art movements as postersEach movement written as a poster the movement itself might have printed.21 art movements Print and reproduction looksThe printing processes, and the wording for what each does to ink.11 print processes Handmade and folkWays to make a poster that looks like a person made it, not a studio.9 handmade looks Place and eraNational and period styles, each with the rules that made it local.14 regional styles Music scenesThe scenes, and the graphic rules each used to say who a night was for.10 music scenes Screen and digitalThe looks that came from a screen, and the wording that gets each one.10 digital looks

Drawing and render stylesDrawing a character rather than printing a sheet? The same reference, for how a picture is made.

Yes, and people do it constantly. The forms are strong and the devices transfer. Be honest about what you are quoting: a Soviet or North Korean poster reads as a reference, so let it be a deliberate one rather than an accident.