M presentation

Some of the Graphic Design that was Used for Propaganda

During the Second World War, graphic design propaganda was widely used as a means of mocking the enemy, rallying allies and recruiting participants as well as support for the course. The World War II was a theater of graphic design propaganda. Propaganda art was the first organization tool used in asking Nazi Germany to rise against the Jews. Hitler exploited his skill in the art to achieve this. For instance, one of the most universally recognized symbols in the World War II was a raised or clenched fist. Mainly, it symbolized resistance, rebellion, power or just strength. Additionally, drawing a fist makes for easy communication from a typical design standpoint since it excels cultural boundaries with ease.

Hitler and Nazi Germany used the symbol of a clenched fist in most of their rallies to mobilize the people towards their course and to communicate resistance and strength of their army (Heller, 2008). In the picture below, Hitler is seen in a rally of the Nazi raising a clenched fist against a dark and gloomy background. The background communicates a dark and uncertain future for their enemies while the clenched fists communicate power, strength, and resistance of Nazi Germany.

Source: Darman & Darman (2010)

In Germany, Graphic Design played an incredible part in the great effort to make the Jews appear as villains. Particularly, the Nazi party used the graphic design propaganda to present the Jews as greedy and war provoking people. They were also presented as flawed race which seems to poison the perfect “Aryan race”.

People during 1942 for instance witnessed serious propaganda used against the Jews as illustrated in the image in the poster below. The poster according to Narayanaswami (2011) depicts a Jew as the Nazis perceived them with ugly look and crafty and mischievous behavior.

Source: Narayanaswami (2011)

Other allied nations equally employed the use of graphic design propaganda in the war. For instance, the United States and Britain used graphic design posters to recruit participants into the war and to appeal to their sense of duty in order to motivate them to remain in the War (Darman&Darman, 2010). For example, the United States used propaganda posters to weaken the capability of Hitler and portray him as a careless, lazy individual. At the end, the main intention was to recruit and educate the public, while weakening the Nazi regime. The American poster below justifies that notion.

Source: Darman&Darman (2010)

The United State created the Office of War Information (OWI) to help in spreading and coordinating the propaganda produced by the United States. With the support from the State and War Departments, the US successfully produced the more propaganda graphic design during the World War II. Most of the posters exclusively focused on duty to the nation, custom, and loyalty as opposed to spreading hate towards the enemies. The consequence was that the messages were inspiring as described in some of the following primary sources:

Source: Darman&Darman (2010)

The poster above was part of the United States propaganda graphic design used to encourage duty, volunteerism, and responsibility at home during the World War II as shown in the slogan. Particularly, it gave options of participation even to those who could not directly engage in the war (Darman&Darman, 2010).

Also, there are various areas of responsibilities that women could find their roles useful in the course of World War II. Particularly, these opportunities were created by the fact that most men had enlisted in the military for the war overseas. As the World War II commenced, women who had not enlisted for the war were encouraged to embrace their common roles such as knitting, packing parcels, maintain home and encourage enlistment. However, this changed as war came closer to home (Gazeley, 2008). They were now being encouraged to join the services as illustrated in the poster bellow encouraging the Australian women to enlist in the forces.

Source: Darman&Darman (2010)

On the other hand, posters were used to motivate men to maintain the spirit of war. In the United States, this poster below is one titled O’er the Ramparts We Watch. The poster illustrates very cool colors with the pilot looking into the distance. There are also accompaniments of the National anthem. Without a doubt, it causes gallant messages that appeal to the national patriotism.

Source: Darman&Darman (2010).

For the men who had been recruited into the war, graphic designed posters were hand in inspiring their passion to fight and stay in the war. In the posters below, there is a positive appreciation message packaged in soldiers leaving the train in a cheerful mood as they are looking forward for their passion in the war. Essentially, it largely romanticizes what is actually an awful and disturbing prospect to ensure that the military recruitment remained attractive to most people. Notably, these posters were common among the allies like the US/UK.

Source: Darman&Darman (2010)

In Britain, propaganda was somewhat impartial, featuring both mainly intended to mock the enemy while at the same time rallying support among the British citizens towards the war and calling for a lot of support to the soldiers in the field. The poster illustrated below is one of the British graphic design propagandas directed at the Nazis. Titled “We shall Strange Hitlerism”, the poster has an impactful message as well as a patriotic appeal by including the British and soviet flags.

Source: Darman &Darman (2010)

On the other hand, the Soviets were equally mastering the art of evoking emotions through the use of Graphic design propaganda. Even before World War II, they already appreciated the influence of propaganda messaging on the public. Indeed, the capacity of propaganda graphic design in making a cause effective cannot be overemphasized. For example, the poster below demonstrates soldiers working for the USSR and UK in a celebratory mood with a ruined Swastika sign that is dragged under their feet. Notably, this picture is meant to mock the Nazis and to predict downfall for their cause. It also shows the success and the value of the unity between the two nations, in a way that creates a good environment for partnership and earning their particular nationals’ support.

Source: Darman &Darman (2010)

Subject 2:

Polish Posters (1953-1989)

The artistic development of Polish Posters was somehow a communication tool that covered different aspects of life. They majorly contributed through the use of clever allusions, giving them the power of suggestion. The Polish used detailed and strong colors from folk art. This enabled them to combine often hand-lettered printed slogans with popular symbols to create short creative metaphors. Being that the posters were hybrids of images and words, they created a unique aesthetic aspect. In fact, they would show the artist’s emotional involvement with his/her subject. The Polish posters were used to interpret the artist’s commentary and interpretation on society and subjects.

The Polish Posters are those posters created after the World War II starting from 1953 and ending during the fall of communism in 1989, by the Polish school of posters who were laughable, picturesque, and peculiar (Nikolic, 2015). The polish posters reached its peak in 1960, and it provided an opportunity for individual artists to make a political comment, talking against the communist politics of Eastern Europe. It gave an emotional ground for the directors, actors, and audience to voice about their frustrations, which could have not been expressed anywhere unless through arts. They were used as thinking motivation to the public through their strange, unreal, and mysterious ways, and the use of a metaphor in communicating. The originality of the works was achieved through a diverse approach, by promoting the use of human and animals, as well as some living or already decaying substances.

To further demonstrate the significance of polish poster, Czestochowski and Filalkowska described the artistic nature as a way of expressing human issues that affected the people of Poland, even going broader than political to social issues (1978). It involved high painting quality, and the choice of their characters represented explanation choices and key sources of references. The Polish posters were better understood by critics and people with artistic skills and a wider range of understanding probabilities. The artist used what could be termed as an intelligent metaphor, with the use of non-traditional calligraphy in their design.

The polish poster was used as a rebuilding tool through the use of artistic propaganda, even as the country was battling communism. It comes at a time when the nation needed some togetherness in rebuilding, and a number of inspirations were needed to help the country turn in one direction (Millie & Kantorosinski, 1993). It was a change of strategy in reaching the population, and the Polish Poster was seen to be effective. The posters contained catchy text and images, which were appealing to the imaginative point of view of the population. It was an effective artistic way that was successful during the war years, and once again it was believed to be useful in bringing the country together in unity towards rebuilding. It provided another opportunity for the graphic design to form part of humanity, and to hold a key aspect of communication without oppression.

The posters had an amazing advantage in that they could double as a source of communication. Even though the catchy painting required some deeper analysis of meaning to realize, the economical and advertising polish posters were doing more than the business aspect. They carried an attack on communism and bad leadership while encouraging the Polish with added hope for victory. One could easily say that the business and advertisement aspect were meant to cover up against the authorities, while the metaphor use of images and painting were for the elite followers of polish posters. In as much as the printing technology seemed to be too low for the artists, it did not keep them away from making the graphic design world to remember the great work of their time. It gave graphic design a new role of not only talking about emotions and social issues, but also being part of the culture of the polish and the world.

Example of the Polish Posters in Use

Ewa Kossakowska circus poster of 1962 was one of the artistic painting and picture art used to advertise circus events for the population. It organized viewership and attendance of such events, with an ironic sneak peak of what is expected. According to Schneider, the painting of the bear riding a bicycle would seem unrealistic but worth watching (2015). It was a way of using the love for art to develop a love for economic development, and circus were one such ways that the Nation could generate income to its citizens. The big Bear also signified the Polish Nation who could take refuge in “Cyrk” entertainment, even when the country was still dealing with some political instability.

Ewa Kossakowska, circus poster, 1962

Source: Schneider (2015)

Cyrk poster were thought to be harmless by the government review team who were responsible for authorization, but the secret political messages were being passed (Schneider, 2015). The polish posters were serving more than one purpose when delivered to the public, and regulators could not easily notice what was hidden. It was achieved by the use of rhetoric picture design to allow shared meaning, encouraging different thinking among Polish people (Nikolic, 2015). Similar technique in graphic design can be seen in Rafal Olbinski circus post of 1980, using the same Cyrk write up to convey both business and anti-communism message (Schneider, 2015). The lion in the art signifies Poland which would seem toothless by then, but there was a rather hidden sharp teeth, which were just about to be apparent and release death. The poster could not be observed as a propaganda and anti-communism message, but the artist could apparently notice that finally communism was coming to an end.

Rafal Olbinski Circus Poster 1980

Source: Schneider (2015)

The unity fight against communism was gaining ground in early 1980s, and so were the disapproval by the government and use of force. It was as a result of dictatorship imposed by the Russians that were taking graphic design to the next level (Nikolic, 2015). The police were turning out to be brutal in handling the people, and most of the freedom were being regulated. Mieczyslaw Gorowski poster of 1982 saw the artistic discomfort towards such act, and a label of high rate of corruption evidenced by the choking rope. The head in the art was a symbol of state leadership who were turning blind from the reality, hence the capture of the ‘policja’ text.

Mieczyslaw Gorowski theater poster of 1982

Source: Schneider (2015)

The Polish further determined that they were watching the turning of events despite being caged, as designed by Wiktor Sadowski poster in 1986 (Nikolic, 2015). The artistic painting was of a man who was caged from the head, symbolizing that leadership caging and political detention. However, the message to the population was loud and clear through by emphasizing on his eye, which turned out to be outstanding than the fading cage. The Master and Margarita caption could have been appealing to the theater audience, but the political aspect and propaganda against communism still stood.

Mistrz i Małgorzata poster by Wiktor Sadowski in 1986

Source: Nikolic (2015)

Conclusion

In conclusion, the graphic design made an enormous contributions during the different movements; War propaganda and the polish posters. The war propaganda achieved most of its intended target, and the group that were consistent in their design turned the war to their favor. The similar occurrence is seen on how positive the polish poster achieved its target, ending the political instability, while also empowering the natives to be united towards economic development. Most of the poster communicated with minimal victimization, because the generation during the movement were alienated to the course of graphic design.

Reference

Czestochowski J. S., Fijalkowska J. (1978). Poster Art in Poland 1899 to 1978. Baltimore; The Maryland Institute, College of Art and Warsaw Poster Museum. Retrieved from