A book was reviewed in yesterday's New York Times (for those of you unfamiliar with that term, a book is a collection of printed words on a page, usually bound and placed between two covers.) The book is called "War Posters--Weapons of Mass Communication" and as the title indicates, it is a collection of a couple of hundred posters from various combatants from the dozen or so wars the world has fought since the advent of mass media. Here is the review: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Heller-t.html
I recommend this book for about four reasons:
1. It makes for great history of the wars we've fought (and started.)
2. It tracks our attitudes about other nations and races.
3. It provides an archive of 100 years of great ads. You can also see great illustrators, graphic design and typography (including type from one British WWI poster that is a dead-ringer for the Altoids typography.)
4. My 16-year old daughter learned something.
For your free copy, please respond to this post with a check for $72.50 to cover shipping and handling. Thank you.
when i grew up in sweden we still had posters in our hallways warning that there might be war again. it wasn't that long after the end of worldwar 2 after all.
ReplyDeleteThe poster had a stylized blue and yellow striped tiger and the words EN SVENSK TIGER.
Which in Swedish has the double meaning of A SWEDE SHUTS UP, and, A SWEDE IS STRONG AND AGILE LIKE A TIGER. Tiger is obviously the name of the animal, like in English. But the word also means "keeping quiet".
It was a beautifully designed poster. In style a bit like the one you use an illustration to your blog entry.
Back when even the most serious messages were artfully expressed. It's amazing how time has gone backwards.