Propaganda

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Square rayon handkerchief printed in red and blue on white showing the lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner surrounded by stars and fireworks. Printed along border: Blue is for Loyalty, Justice and Truth/ White is for Purity / Red is for Courage and Zeal. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A Missing Verse
Author: Jeana Klein In celebration of the third annual New York Textile Month, members of the Textile Society of America will author Object of the Day for the month of September. A non-profit professional organization of scholars, educators, and artists in the field of textiles, TSA provides an international forum for the exchange and dissemination...
Read Time
4 minutes
Posted By
Susan Brown
Date
September 24, 2018
The People’s Receiver
In the 1930s, the Nazi party relied heavily on propaganda in order to spread its political and social views across Germany under the Third Reich. While this spread of ideas was most infamously carried out using military power, the government was also able to find its way into the homes and heads of the German...
Read Time
2 minutes
Posted By
Emily Kress
Date
August 8, 2015
Image of a red flying plane. Surrounded by small vignettes
What do you want to be when you grow up?
In 1940, with World War II already underway, it seemed inevitable that America would soon be joining the fight against the Axis powers. The U.S. Army Air Corps published this recruitment poster shown above. The imagery utilized by an unknown graphic designer romanticized participation in the academy’s cadet program. The montage of photographs showcase cutting-edge planes...
Read Time
2 minutes
Posted By
Julia Pelkofsky
Date
March 11, 2015
A shirtless man sets fire to the monumental figures of the Church, the Tsar, and the Bourgeoisie. These figures in red, with features grotesquely abstracted, appear to be carved from stone. The man is naturalistically rendered by comparison. The title is printed in red Cyrillic on a yellow ground.
Toppling Monumental Foes
The huge figures dominating the composition of this Soviet poster stand as grotesque monuments to Russia’s imperial past. Labeled pedestals identify them as priest, tsar, and bourgeoisie—all cruel oppressors in the eyes of the new regime. Their rough-hewn faces crudely caricature the elegant, ostentatious sculptures of past tsars, and they tower over two naturalistically rendered...
Read Time
3 minutes
Posted By
Virginia McBride
Date
October 14, 2014
Six blocks of text outlining Stalin's 1931 "Six Conditions" speech overlap a black and white photo of Stalin. Additional quotes from the speech, printed in red and black Cyrillic appear to the right of Stalin's head at an angle against a cream-colored section. Above this, the speech's title appears in red, against a grey background.
Designing for a Dictator
Bold text surrounds a black-and-white photograph of Joseph Stalin in this Soviet poster from 1931. The poster was designed to reinforce the tenets of a speech by the leader, delivered to a meeting of industrial managers in June of the same year. The speech outlined six conditions for new industrial development, all of which are...
Read Time
3 minutes
Posted By
Virginia McBride
Date
October 3, 2014
Poster depicting a town view with buildings and scaffolding in the background under large clouds. Large arms coming from above hold a book open to an audience of men (workers) holding signs. All look to a man, standing on a tall platform, pointing to the book.
From Lenin’s Lips to God’s Hands
You don’t need to read Russian to understand this Soviet poster. Two larger-than-life hands lower a huge book from the sky, holding it open for all to read. Crowds flock to the book, extending as far as the eye can see. In unmistakable visual language, designer Sergei Ivanov conveys the importance of literacy—a crucial issue...
Read Time
3 minutes
Posted By
Virginia McBride
Date
August 31, 2014