THE EFFECTS OF GEOPOLITICAL CONFLICT:

The Home Front: How design influences

Have you ever wondered what motivated Americans to stay engaged in the war efforts during WWII? Well, perhaps not, but this thought came to me while exploring ideas for my Master's thesis at Rochester Institute of Technology around 2002. Studying Information Design and Design History, it occurred to me that at no other time in modern history, a marketing campaign had so successfully engaged so many people for so long.

 

I am an avid collector and was caught up by how design of all kinds changed from 1939 through 1950. America went from design chaos to modernism in a flash of several years.

The marketing of WWII's war effort was part of that transformation not only because of the influence European modernist designers had, but also the need to develop new methods of getting information to the public. This site is dedicated to exploring these ideas through home front artifacts and the stories behind them.

These pages are not meant to be so much a history lesson, but explorating design throughout the ‘40s and how marketing and design influenced and was influenced by this geopolitical conflict.

The Collection

• 1
• Focus Home front artifacts from Unites States only. No military artifacts unless it has to do with the comforts of the soldier.View the Collection

• 2
• Relevance Designers have a responsibility to their audience. With limited forms of communication, mass media educated, entertained and persuaded America. .View the Collection

• 3
• Explore how influence happens A poster impacts you with just a glance. The "Buy War Bonds" phrase on all household. These another methods builds trust and inflences. .View the Collection