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:
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?
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