Check the Identity by the A.B. 64

Abram Games prints bring the bold ideas, striking colour and clever typography of one of Britain's greatest graphic designers into your home. Games was the official War Office poster artist of the Second World War and later designed the emblem of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Our collection of fine art prints covers his wartime posters on recruitment, health, salvage and security.

About Abram Games

Abram Games was born Abraham Gamse in Whitechapel, London, on 29 July 1914, the son of a Latvian photographer and a seamstress. He left school at 16 and spent two terms at Saint Martin's School of Art before leaving, disillusioned. While working as a studio boy for a commercial design firm from 1932 to 1936, he took night classes in life drawing, and won poster competitions in 1934 and 1935.

From 1936 he worked freelance, and an article in the journal Art and Industry in 1937 brought commissions from the General Post Office, London Transport and Shell. Conscripted in the Second World War, he was asked by the War Office in 1941 to design a recruitment poster, and became its official poster artist. His "Join the ATS" poster of 1941, nicknamed the "blonde bombshell", is one of the most famous British images of the war.

After the war he worked for Shell, the Financial Times, Guinness, British Airways, London Transport and El Al, designed stamps for several countries and in 1948 won the competition for the Festival of Britain emblem. In 1954 he created the first moving on-screen symbol for BBC Television. He was awarded the OBE in 1958 and became a Royal Designer for Industry in 1959. He died in London on 27 August 1996.

Style and Subjects

His posters reduce an idea to one powerful image, often combining two symbols into one, with dramatic perspective, airbrushed colour and lettering built into the design.

His wartime work ranges from heroic recruitment images to blunt, sometimes shocking health and security warnings, such as "He Talked – They Died", always with striking colour and bold graphic ideas.

Famous Works

• Join the ATS ("blonde bombshell") (1941). His famous recruitment poster for the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service.
• Your Britain – Fight For It Now. A wartime series about the Britain people were fighting for.
• He Talked – They Died. A stark warning against careless talk.
• Blood Donors Are Needed Urgently to Save Lives. A powerful appeal for the Army Blood Transfusion Service.
• Festival of Britain emblem (1951). The famous star-and-bunting symbol of the national festival.
• Great Ideas of Western Man (1955), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington. A poster for the Container Corporation of America's series.

Decorating with Games Prints

Games's posters are perfect for modern and mid-century interiors. A wartime poster like Your Britain – Fight For It Now makes a bold statement in a study, office or hallway, and a group of his health and salvage posters forms a witty, graphic gallery wall.

They are a natural choice for design lovers, history buffs and anyone who enjoys strong colour and clean typography.

FAQ

Who was Abram Games?

Abram Games (1914–1996) was a British graphic designer, best known as the official War Office poster artist of the Second World War and the designer of the Festival of Britain emblem.

What is the "blonde bombshell" poster?

It is Games's 1941 recruitment poster for the Auxiliary Territorial Service, showing a glamorous young woman in uniform. It was nicknamed the "blonde bombshell".

What was Abram Games's design philosophy?

He saw the poster as a spring: he once said, in effect, that he winds the spring and the public releases it in their mind when they see the poster.

What else did Abram Games design?

He designed stamps, book jackets for Penguin, the Festival of Britain emblem, the first animated BBC Television symbol and even a vacuum coffee maker, the Cona.

Related Artists

• Edward McKnight Kauffer: earlier poster designer for London Transport and Shell
• Joseph Binder: fellow modernist poster designer
• Lucian Bernhard: pioneer of the simple, bold poster