“Careless Design … a Needless Piece.”
As graphic designers, our job is to create works of art that communicate something to the viewer. Whether that be through packaging, cover, a logo, or branding design we are trying to give viewers an impression about what the product we are designing for will be like. So, it is imperative that our designs cause a viewer to act. The WWII era posters housed in the St. John’s University Archives and Special Collections, specifically …because someone talked! and Award for Careless Talk, provide great examples of successful design that caused Americans to behave in the way the designers intended.
Between 1939 and 1945 America and several other nations were involved in World War II. The country lost a lot of good men. During this time poster design was at its peak because it was the best way for the government to communicate how they wanted citizens to live and act during the war. The most popular posters from this time advocated for giving away unneeded materials, buying war bonds, and urging Americans to join the military but there was also a whole other series of posters referred to as “Careless Talk” posters. Instead of urging people to do stuff such as join the military or save materials they asked Americans not to talk about America’s war efforts.
During the war, the government was worried that spies and other Axis operatives were infiltrating American communities learning about better ways to fight America in the war. The “Careless Talk” posters were created to persuade or “guilt citizens” to keep war talk out of casual conversations. Many included images, that would invoke sympathy such as a grieving pet, a mother mourning, or a wishful daughter.
Through copy, composition, and subject matter, designers were successful in making Americans feel sad, guilty, and fearful of speaking about war efforts. In addition to all these emotions, they also made Americans feel angry and resentful about careless talk through attacking their patriotism.
Award for Careless Talk (1944) by Stevan Dohanos is one of several posters that inferred that if Americans talked about troop movements, ship sailings, or war equipment they were working with or equivalent to a Nazi. During a time where Americans were dying at the hands of one of the most evil organizations this world has seen, this inference was the ultimate insult. Dohanos did this by using images of swastikas on the man’s ring and on the medal itself.
Dohanos’ early role model was Norman Rockwell whose work he saw on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. After working in commercial arts and being instructed by Edward Hopper, Dohanos decided to deviate from Rockwell. He did this by documenting the reality of American lives. Many think that Rockwell does the same, but Rockwell shows the lives of his subjects as more optimistic and positive than they really were.
Instead of creating happy posts that assure Americans that everything is fine like Rockwell did, Dohanos focused on realism. He is acknowledged the fight against the axis and used the main axis power, Germany, to make Americans more passionate about preventing careless talk. Out of all the posters to come out of the era, Award for Careless Talk was considered one for the more graphically powerful posters.
Dohanos used elements such as color, composition, and symbolism to his advantage. Red was the color of the enemy. It was the primary color used by both the Nazis and the Japanese. Knowing this, Dohanos used the solid Red background not only to draw the viewer’s eye with the bold and powerful colors but also to convey to a passerby that the poster has something to do with Fascism. Instead of making an elaborate illustration take up most of the poster (like Rockwell’s posters featured below), Dohanos made sure to illustrate something simpler so viewers would not be distracted by other elements and could focus on the subject at hand. Dohanos had the right idea because when creating posters, simpler is better. When a poster is simple, it means that the viewer can get the gist faster; making it more likely to be reached by motorists and pedestrians.
Award for Careless Talk teaches us important elements in design such as emphasis, color, and space. It is a great example of how to effectively communicate with viewers. Dohanos undoubtedly used research and/or used his knowledge of Nazism to create this piece, this is reflected in the addition of the Nazi ring and the German medal and his use of the color red. Designers who do not research or do not strive to connect their piece with society, are careless. If a design looks nice, but cannot communicate to the viewer what the product is, the design and services become needless. Our primary role as designers is to sell, inform, and/or persuade. While copywriters use text to sell a product, we aid them by creating a design to help sell that product. If we cannot communicate with customers effectively, we have failed as a designer. Therefore, a careless design equals a needless piece.
I’d like to thank the St. John’s University Collection for allowing me to see these posters in person. I didn’t fall in love with the design of Award for Careless Talk until I saw it with my own eyes, so I highly recommend you go check their stuff out for yourself. If you’d like to see these posters in-person visit St. Augustine Hall, Room B20 and if you’re not a St. John’s student you can find them online at the following link: http://digitalmemory.stjohns.edu/digital/collection/WWIIposters
Sources
“AWARD for Careless Talk: Stevan Dohanos.” The Vintage Poster. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.
“Award for Careless Talk.” Digital Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Library. Illinois State Library, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.
Award for Careless Talk. 1944. World War, 1939–1945 — Posters: Careless Talk, St. John’s
University Archives & Special Collections. World War II Poster Collection., Jamaica.
Ed. Stevan Dohanos.
Editors, Post. “Stevan Dohanos: The Saturday Evening Post.” The Saturday Evening Post Stevan
Dohanos Comments. N.p., 15 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2019.
…because Somebody Talked! 1944. St. John’s University Archives & Special Collections.
World War II Poster Collection., Jamaica. Ed. Wesley Heyman.
