I created a poster that embodies the mission of 1940s designer Lester Beall: I used minimalism and the emotional connection of solid blocks of national colors to stir in the viewer a sense of connectedness, encouraging one to take part in helping the relief efforts following the tragic tornado disasters that occurred in Tuscaloosa recently.
Something that I particularly love about Lester Beall's images are the lighthearted emotional quality he incorporates into his work. Despite his very serious subject matter, Lester uses images that invoke an optimistic sense of volunteerism. While many designers tend to approach grave subjects in the opposite manner, taking care to communicate a tone of seriousness in their work, Lester Beall seems to take the opposite approach. Rather than warning or subduing his audience, he aims to inspire and provoke good. In a sense, I feel like his work is a visual pep talk. I tried to emulate this by incorporating images that would draw the viewer in, sparking interest and creating an optimistic approach to the problem.
Like Lester, I used the national colors, red, white, and blue, to invoke a sense of national pride and responsibility. Lester's work feels very authentic and classically "American." He uses bold blocks of color to communicate a very bold message. Essentially I feel that the contemporary American public would respond to posters in Lester Beall's style in the same way that his work was received in its day. I feel that a promotion of national pride and a sense of community and volunteerism are held high today just as they have been in our nation's history. I hope to achieve the same reaction as Lester Beall's poster's achieved.
I posted my work on several sites to elicit a reaction. Here are some of the links!
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