Propaganda Posters
For a portfolio assignment from the online course, “A Graphic Designer Made That”, we were asked to create three government-issued propaganda notices warning citizens of an imminent danger.
I based my posters on an episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”, where a sudden power outage wreaks havoc in an idyllic 1960s suburban neighborhood causing paranoid residents to believe there is an extraterrestrial threat among them.
Because the setting is the summer of the year 1960, I referenced 1950s propaganda posters to replicate the design styles, font choices, and the imperfect design nuances of that time period. I roughened and textured the posters to emulate the printing quality of posters back then.
The messaging of the posters are meant to instill fear and mistrust in each other, mirroring how the residents resort quickly to suspicion of each
other following the blackout. I imagined these posters would be hung up on and around Maple Street by concerned city officials in efforts to unmask the enemy and restore peace to the neighborhood.
I noted a use of black and white photography within late 1950s propaganda posters, which truly makes it feel as though it belongs in the year 1960.
