Propaganda and protest

Seven political traditions, and the visual rules each one 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

4

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.

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 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.

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.

North Korean Propaganda

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

Printed against the state

3

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.

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.

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.

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 movementsEighteen movements, and the wording that gets the look of each one.18 design movements Art movements as postersTwenty-one movements, each written as a poster the movement might have printed.21 art movements Print and reproduction looksEleven printing processes, and the wording that gets what each one does to ink.11 print processes Handmade and folkNine ways to make a poster that looks like a person made it, not a studio.9 handmade looks Place and eraFourteen national and period styles, each with the rules that made it local.14 regional styles Music scenesTen scenes, and the graphic rules each one used to say who the night was for.10 music scenes Screen and digitalTen looks that came from a screen, and the wording that gets each one.10 digital looks

Cinematic techniquesShooting a video rather than printing a poster? The same reference, for the camera.

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.