Poster Children : Free Downloads

ReadyMade asks five artists to reimagine the populist poster art of the first Great Depression. Click each poster to take you to the PDF download.

by Christoph Niemann
“Even though you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, a good cover makes a good book more interesting. I think art in a society often works similarly. I like all of the original posters, but one of them—’Fantastic and Abstract Art’—I find remarkably weird.”

by Nick Dewar
“I hope that America is entering a post-’greed is good’ period. I can’t think of a single step that would change the nature of our society more than everyone abandoning their automobiles and cycling instead. There would be less dependence on oil, obesity levels would drop dramatically, and reflective bike clips would replace fancy ladies’ purses as the current must-have fashion accessory.”
by Christopher Silas Neal
“Solving the world’s energy and food problems would do a great deal to strengthen the global economy, prevent disease, and reverse the effects of climate change. The original Victory Garden program was designed to ease pressure on the public agricultural supply and support the war effort by encouraging families to grow their own food. I wanted to expand this idea to the broader concept of buying and eating local food.”

by Open
“Since the WPA was about helping people understand concepts that can help make life better, we took a different approach to war and defense. Communicating with an open mind is the first step toward understanding and avoiding conflict. The ‘know other people’ caption refers to the ‘know other lands’ phrase on some of the original posters.”

by Mike Perry
“I really responded to the original WPA phrase ‘let it grow’—it seemed much bigger. I wanted to make something that lifted spirits. It seems like the program should have never stopped. I know so many brilliant artists who could have used some government funding even while the economy was booming.”

via Ready Made Magazine