Research | Modern Propaganda

Source: http://miukoridi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/shepard-fairey-3.jpg, http://miukoridi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/shepard-fairey-3.jpg

As I've been discussing 1900-1950s propaganda in the last part of research I figured I'd start some research on the modern propaganda artist'. Shepard Fairey is far better known for his 'OBEY' branding that has spread like wild fire over America and the UK, but he does fantastic modern propaganda posters. The one above sports the phrase "Drop sneakers not bombs". This phrase has been adapted to be attractive to many different target audiences, for instance the image below would be aimed at car enthusiasts:

Source: https://dubkorps.com/files/imagecache/gear_list_large/WHT_DropCarsNotBombs_big.png

These are opposing to the attitude of all of the posters I have previously reviewed, but the art work that Shepard produces is very much in the same style as the artist i previously reviewed, Henry Koerner.

 Source: http://www.marksandmeaning.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/shepard_fairey_obama-poster.jpg

" Fairey sold 350 of the posters on the street immediately after printing them." 
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22Hope%22_poster.

This poster of Barack Obama was created by Shepard in 2008 for the American Presidential Election. I find it fascinating how a street artist has come to be so heavily impacting on the election, with over 300 of these posters sold on the streets by Shepard himself. Along with his success with the election poster, his clothing brand "OBEY" has become huge in The United Kingdom over the last year or so, going from something of a indie clothing brand to a fashion phenomenon for teenagers.

Source: http://madamepickwickartblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/shepard-1.jpg

Shepard uses minimum amounts of gradients in his work. This is where his work contrasts to Henry's, but the use of American flag colours is a very strong link creates a strong link between both of their styles. The use of these colours conveys the image that America is self driven, and is patriotic.

Source: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/01/09/timestopics/shepardfairey_395.jpg

"Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary graphic designer and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding^[1] scene. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specifically his Barack Obama "Hope" poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists.^[2] His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.^[3][4]" 

^{Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Fairey}

I really like Shepard's work overall, he uses a contemporary posterised style I haven't seen in any other propaganda to show highlights and low lights on peoples faces. To keep things simple he uses a very small colour palette of 4 colours or less.

The Brief | Propaganda

This is my first year of doing Digital Media Design, at foundation degree level. The first brief requires me to design at least one modern day propaganda poster for a social networking website, in the style of a 1900- 1950s poster. We have the choice of designing for:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Google+
• LinkedIn
• Blogger
• Vimeo
• YouTube

Although I have been given the list above, I can also suggest and discuss designing for another service with my lecturers. 

The Beginning | Research

Google Search | "propaganda poster artists ww2"

I found a lot of inspiration in my first search on Google. A lot of 1900-1950's propaganda posters were available to view, but a few caught my eye far more than others.

Source:
 https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVS0fy6jh7FxDCsiEsuOeYkbAQxSkjxRsMZCLNloq4Dd-sjGNn, https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=propaganda+poster+artists+ww2&aq=1&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D14&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=9EtgUObgNLCV0QWS9YGQAw&biw=1920&bih=959&sei=OlJgUNc7qbDQBaz


Before I note anything else about the design of these posters I must first comment upon how stern and harsh the messages are in a lot of them. The focus is on harshly ordering people to do something, getting the job done without any fuss.

 think the way the second poster is coloured, the expression on the characters face and the sharp lines on the art work tell you again of this no fuss attitude. It has the message of "quiet! know your place shut your face" which is very clear, and very strong, and it even rhymes to make sure it memorable and could easily go "viral". The use of the American flag colours on second characters sleeve gives the poster an even more powerful strength, as if the whole of America is supporting this too. Black and yellow are stereotypically danger colours, and i can only presume the artist has used them to strike fear into anyone who would be tempted to rebel against what the poster is trying to put in situ. The use of the pastel colours throughout the rest of the poster makes these important colours stand out even more. The layout of the typography seems to be very common throughout the majority of posters i've looked at, a large eye catching word at the top and the rest of the supporting slogan appearing at the bottom of the poster. Again the typography continues the get on with it, without and fuss attitude of the war. The use of upper case text grabs your attention quickly and adds a furthermore ordering manor to the message.
The poster was part of a much larger American propaganda movement called "The Enemy Has Spies Everywhere". Below are some more examples of movement:

 Source: http://www.vinmag.com/online/media/gbu0/prodlg/AP2648-someone-talked-war-poster.jpg

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/ww2/media/images/posters/sometalk.jpg

They are both by the artist Henry Koerner who was an award winning propaganda artist at that time. They were both published in America 1942 during the second world war. I think these posters have a much quicker impact, and could make a viewer feel very guilty even if they haven't spoken out of turn because they directly show the impacts that loose tongues have had on soldiers during the war. 

Source:: http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/26/2665/TX3UD00Z/posters/boys-come-over-here.jpg, http://www.allposters.co.uk/-st/World-War-II-Propaganda-Vintage-Art-Posters_c50710_p3_.htm

Source: http://images2.bridgemanart.com/cgi-bin/bridgemanImage.cgi/400wm.TOP.971190.7055475/88000.

In contrast to this, the poster above on the left features much more laid back typography, softer outlines on the background art work and a slogan that tells us about the encouragement not just out-and-out aggression of the people in our nation during the war. It features pastel colours all round, although the yellow quite quickly grabs your attention. The positioning of the soldier is great as it prompts you to look at the slogan because of where he's looking. The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee were the original publishers of this poster in 1915. They used a printers in Harrow, Middlesex called David Allen and Sons Ltd. The poster on the right shares most of the same details, printed by the same people but it was provided by the Lines of Communications this time. It has an even more gently encouraging visual language than before which I find very odd, as I would have thought that because of the harsh and often brutal visual language seen in other posters they would go with that. Maybe it was decided that encouragement instead of enforcement would be a different way of attacking the situation they were in?