Anonymous

When a poster is unsigned it is often impossible to discover who designed it. Artists did not sign works for many reasons. Sometimes artists were employed by a printer or studio that wished to be acknowledged rather than their employee. Members of an organisation’s publicity department designed other posters, and in some cases these artists were not acknowledged. Occasionally artists did not want it known that they were undertaking commercial work. Until a poster can be attributed to an artist it will therefore be credited ‘Anonymous’.

Information summarised from: ‘Anonymous’, Poster Database, London Transport Museum

Jonathan Foss

Jonathan Foss was a ‘young advertising designer’ who joined the staff of the Air Ministry Publicity Branch ‘just prior to the out-break of war as a “lay-out” man’, leaving in late 1943 to work for the London Press Exchange. Foss’s designs appear to particularly make use of ‘sincere realism’ through photographic material, particularly with colour montages. Foss was particularly influenced by Cassandre, at one point his favourite poster designer. He designed about 60 posters for the R.A.F. of which ‘Volunteer for Flying Duties’ was the first major one. From 1952 to 1955 he worked for Unilver in Brussels. He returned to England to become the international art director for Colman, Prentis and Varley Ltd. He then worked for two advertising firms in New Zealand, before settling in Australia.

Information taken from: ‘W.A.A.F. Recruiting Posters’, Art and Industry, Vol.32, No.189, January 1942, pp.12-13; ‘A.T.C. Recruiting Campaign’, Advertiser’s Weekly, November 11 1943, p.136; Darracott, J. and Loftus, B., Second World War Posters, 1981 (1972), p.29