soulsight®

Coming from a military family, December 7 has always been a day of solemn remembrance of the attack of Pearl Harbor. As a designer though it's also a time of year that i start looking up the old WWII propaganda posters. It amazes me that how impactful these posters can still be. I'm not surprised, just amazed, that they have such staying power. It's a testament to how important emotion is in the success of design.

Of course, for me the most iconic poster is the "We Can Do It" poster that was a call to arms for the women left at home to know that they had the power within themselves to make a dramatic contribution to the war effort. Beautifully and richly illustrated, direct and to the point. The metaphoric and literal imagery of rolling up your sleeves. Genius.

For me, the most dramatic poster was one that i remember hanging in the library of my grade school. It scared the hell out of me then and still kind of does now. That's what it was designed to do of course, but this simple graphic element of eyes under a helmet has stayed with me all these years. The simple, sans serif typography gets straight to the point in a no-nonsense way. "He's Watching You." Freaked me right out!