Design Project: Games on War
This is a project to design posters that advertise an exhibit on Abram Games at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit will focus on propoganda and recruiting posters from Great Britain during World War II.
This exhibit will feature many of the 100 posters, mostly focused on military recruitment and propaganda,
created by Games during the war.
created by Games during the war.
His portfolio included posters, advertisements, logos and even commemorative stamps, for events such as the
Festival of Britain and the 1948 Olympics.
Festival of Britain and the 1948 Olympics.
Games summarized his style succintly: “Maximum meaning, minimum means”.
Collage
Games first gained recognition for creating propoganda and recruitment posters for the British military during
World War II. This design features two of the more famous of his works.
World War II. This design features two of the more famous of his works.
The background is a period photograph of London on fire following a bombing raid by the German air force.
The firebombing by the Germans was the inspiration for one of the featured posters. The other poster, of a young woman in a military helmet, was a recriting call for women to serve in the civil defense.
Photograph
Another favorite theme for Games was to put visual puns into his work. I have paid homage by including a few here.
The background is actually the backside of a game board. It has been recolored, but the texture is clear. The British tricolor is featured in the canvas and the text.
The focal point is a toy airplane; a play on the “game” theme. This is a model of one of the British fighter aircraft used during the tense days of the Battle of Britain, when Games was first serving in the British War Office.
The typeface used in all of the designs is a sans serif font. Games commonly used sans serif in his display font and body copy.
The design is simple with few elements, in typical Games style.
Typography
The prominent feature of this design is a replica of Games’ own signature. He had a distinctive lettering style that was easily recognizable.
Games liked word play and there is a tip-of-the-hat here. His name is postioned above the subtitle, “On War”, so we literally see, A. Games on war.
The British tri-color is clearly represented.
