Turning over several new leaves

I’ve always liked James Fitton.  And I can say that with some confidence, as I had this postcard on my wall at university (quite some time ago now).  It’s one of his designs for the Ministry of Food, from just after the end of the war.

James Fitton Turn Over A New Leaf WW2 vintage poster

I’ve still got the postcard; more pleasingly, we also now own one of the original posters too.  It may have taken me twenty years, but I’m still quite chuffed about that.

Even a cursory look at his poster designs reveals a man who had a whole range of styles at his command.  This Ministry of Food poster is from the same period, but can hardly be recognised as coming from the same hand (slightly pallid image from the Design Council Slide Collection).

James Fitton WW2 vintage poster clear plate

This milk poster is also from that era (and, trivia fans, is the one that you can see in the front of these images from Britain Can Make It).

James Fitton Ministry of Food vintage milk poster

What that last poster does particularly show is Fitton’s use of really luminous colour (which must have been particularly hard to achieve with wartime/utility paper and printing materials).  His 1941 posters for London Transport (also here) have the same almost supernatural, and very appropriate, glow,

James Fitton WW2 poster london transport outside it's dark

By 1948, they’re almost dazzling.  And of course in an entirely different style.

James Fitton The Seen London Transport vintage poster 1948

All of the above would, you’d think, would be more than enough to make him a revered and often-mentioned designer.  But it turns out that’s not the half of it.  The following is just an outline of what he achieved, the full shilling lives can be found here, here and here.

Throughout the 1930s, he was probably best-known as a cartoonist for left-wing periodicals such as the Daily Worker and Left Review.  His work was influential and seen as avant-garde at the time (as in the use of real newspaper print in the cartoon below).

James Fitton Cartoon for Left Review

After the war, he continued working as a cartoonist and illustrator for magazines such as Lilliput.

James Fitton Cartoon for Lilliput

Then there was the painting.

James Fitton 1948 painting Brixton street scenet

(This 1948 Brixton street scene is now in the Museum of London).

And he taught, he served on official bodies, and the Design Council slide collection suggests that he even found time to design some fabric too.

James Fitton fabric design Design Council slide collection

All of this while holding down a day job as the Art Director of Vernons, which he helped make into one of London’s leading advertising agencies.  I’m exhausted just reading about it.

It may be that being able to work in so many disciplines is one of the reasons why he’s not so well known today; the collectors and writers about Lilliput don’t know about his posterworks, the cartoon historians have no idea that he’s also in the collection of the Tate Gallery and so on.  I think it’s a pity, and also unfair, as his poster designs are not only the equal of those by better known designers, but also have a haunting quality which perhaps carries over from his artworks.  In some ways I’d rather live with a Fitton on my wall (if anyone would like to send some, please feel free) than with many other posters.  Am I alone in thinking that?  Answers in the comments box below if you please. After this last rather lovely London Transport poster from 1937.

James Fitton vintage London Transport Poster Ballet 1937

Shine a light

This was sold on eBay on Friday.

Hans Schleger London Transport vintage poster

From 1944, it is a lovely piece of Hans Schleger/Zero in prime linen-mounted condition.  Mr Crownfolio and I did have rather deluded hopes of picking it up for a pittance, seeing as it was being sold in the States.  But it went for nearly £250 – unsurprisingly – which means that I can bring myself to tell you that the same seller has another one from the series on offer this week.

Hans Schleger ww2 vintage blackout poster london transport

In a way, I’m not really upset that we didn’t get the first poster.  It’s a classic, but I’m not sure I like it enough (certainly not £250 of enough).  Would it ever get framed and hung on the wall?  I don’t think so.

One of the reasons is that it may be a classic World War Two London Transport poster, but I’m not sure it’s a classic Schleger.  His posters are usually either a bit stranger, or at very least a bit wittier, like this GPO poster from just a year or two later (known in our house as the ‘Prawn Chef’).

Hans Schleger Zero GPO Posting before lunch poster

I wonder if there is a reason why his London Transport posters are so sensible.  Because the other thing that has struck me about the two offered on eBay is just how much they resemble other designers’ work on the same themes – and how much they all resemble each other.

Here’s Tom Eckersley on the other side of the question – reminding bus drivers to stop when they are hailed in the blackout.

Tom Eckersley London Transport vintage WW2 blackout poster

And also reminding the drivers to save rubber.

Tom Eckersley WW2 London Transport poster save rubber

While James Fitton (whose work really does deserve more appreciation than it gets) informs the travelling public that they too can help save this precious wartime commodity.

James Fitton Save Rubber poster London Transport WW2

And finally, we’re pretty much back at the beginning again, as Fitton also tells us how not to flag down a bus during the blackout.

James Fitton blackout London Transport WW2 poster

Two things strike me from this series.  One is what a great designer James Fitton was, in particular for his luminous use of colour.  His posters easily stand up to the work of both Eckersley and Schleger.

The other – which was the thought that started all of this off – is that, for such a diverse set of designers, the results do have more in common than I would expect.  This is mainly in the way that they’ve all used a simplicity of technique, each poster illustrating the issue fairly literally with no visual puns or distracting images.  I wonder whether, somewhere in the heart of the London Transport wartime archives, there is a memo which says: This is war.  And safety.  So don’t let the designers get away with any of their clever-clever stuff.  Oh, and on the way out, make sure you give them an airbrush.  Perhaps I should write to the London Transport Museum and ask.

Britain Can Make Lovely Posters

A further digression here.  I’ve spent the morning assembling the first draft of the links page, and in the course of it have rediscovered this wonderful photograph:

Britain can make it poster exhibition

It’s the General Printing part of the 1947 Britain Can Make It exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum.  The aim was to showcase the consumer goods which would lead the country’s manufacturing recovery after the war.  Although the show was wildly popular, it was generally known as ‘Britain Can’t Have It’ as the country was still under heavy rationing, and almost all the goods on display were designed for export.

Britain Can Make it posters wuder

At least the posters above would have been an exception to this.  I can identify a Games, the Lewitt-Him Vegetabull (below, any excuse) and a Fougasse.  The caption also tells me that the front poster about Milk is a James Fitton.  If you can identify any others, I’d love to know.

Lewitt Him vegetabull poster

The image comes from the VADS archive, which is a collection of more images and resources than one person can reasonably use in a lifetime.  They’ve got a good (if slightly over design-historical) introduction to Britain Can Make It if you’re interested in learning more.  I’d just like to have a wander round the exhibition really.  And then take the posters home, of course.