[horstenpeter]

Hey everyone, I sort of like the visual style of propaganda art as shown above. I was thinking about studying it a bit, but it's kind of hard to find good artists, resources or books on the matter. So anyone got any links, books, or artist names ?

[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: horstenpeter ]

[gekitsu]

i'd be interested in that as well.
probably, it's a lot of communicative design in it and a dsmn lot of psychology.
unfortunately, the real masters of propagand didn't keep their knowledge in books. i'd love to read a book written by goebbels about propaganda...

[Shep]

I'm not sure whether this link might help you or not. You may have already heard of it: ObeyGiant

It isn't really anything you can study, but there are plenty of examples of similar "propaganda" looking work along with alot of garbage to sift through...

[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: Shep ]

[ April 13, 2002: Message edited by: Shep ]

[manta2saint]

I agree with Shep, ObeyGiant is a good place to look to see more propaganda artwork. You should surely check there.

Now, I do have a slight understanding of the dynamics of propaganda artistry, as it relates greatly with all other forms of propaganda.

In general, propaganda art is very bold with colors that strike the attention of the observer. It normally includes text that is very bold and vague, set up on the page in a way that makes the observer not question it. It becomes sure thing! Most likely, the striking image in the artwork supports the overview of the message and touches the receiver as a personal issue.

Most likely, striking colors and complementary colors are combined to make the message stand out, while the main picture within the artwork is noticed after you have seen the overview of what the picture is about. The font will sometimes be overpowering or colored strongly as said before. The main idea of the picture is to weald that image and thought into your mind so that you will be able to remember it later in what you do and how you think.

Also, direct perspective is commonly used. For example, the fourth image you have shown draws the eye of the observer right off of the symbols and into the main text to get off their point. The creators of these works were masters of manipulating your eye path to draw you where they want you. It is a strength that truly pushes the power of the message into the thoughts of the people. These people were talented, truly talented artists rapped up in a game of minds. It is sad that such fantastically artistic minds could not have done more to give to the world of art.

I think that researching propaganda art would be a terrific idea. You can learn a lot. Good luck in your search.

[horstenpeter]

gekitsu, yeah Goebbels would probably be the man on propaganda, though I believe he missed a lot of stuff because he likely believed the stuff he did himself.

Shep, thanks for the link, looks really good.

manta2saint, that was some really, really helpful advice ! I will certainly explore what you said in my art ! I'm beginning to like the style (not the propaganda itself ) more and more.

[artboy]

I don't see anything extraordinary about Goebbels, other than the fact that he was a Nazi fuck. There's gotta be better propaganda artists out there (have you seen the WWII posters?!)...

-artboy

[turnip]

commentaries on propaganda posters were the highlight of history classes. You can bs about all sorts of things like colors, shapes, perspectives and the marker would be in complete agreement with you because he/she mostly likely isn't an artist.

It's very useful to study the history while studying the art so you can understand better how the artist was able to affect the target viewers.
Those posters were like nike ads of the 50s, takes a bit of marketing along with that artist skill to brainwash ppl

[horstenpeter]

artboy, yeah, so Goebbels was a stupid Nazi, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was a master of propaganda. And by the way, he was no artist, he didn't draw the pictures himself. He just knew how to make people do anything he wants (ever heard his speech at the sports palace ? "Do you want the TOTAL war ?" - with the whole crowd cheering and applauding and screaming. It's unbelievable.).
The fact that he was a Nazi doesn`t say anything about his abilities as a marketing specialist.

Anyways, I ordered a nice book from amazon, maybe someone is interested: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0719054192/qid=1019035596/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/002-7281179-7530422

It's more about the posters from the communist block, but I like their style more than the western style anyways.