Graphic Designers: Games & Dana
Abram Games
The first designer I’d like to mention is Abram Games. His Specialty was poster design. It is said that his posters have left a lasting legacy that continues to influence artists decade after decade. After a little research, that is no surprise.
Abram Games was born in 1914 just before the first world war in London England. His parents, Joseph Games and Sarah Rosenberg, emigrated to Britain from The Russian Empire near the end of the 1800s. His father introduced him to design through his career of doing photography. Photographers at that time touched up photos by using a physical airbrush. Abrams learned to master his father’s very same airbrush throughout his career as a poster designer.
At the age of sixteen Games went to Saint Martin’s School of Art in London. Though he left just after two terms as the school was too expensive. He was set on being a poster designer and established himself as a freelance artist. He attained commissions from large and formidable organizations and companies such as Shell, London Transport, the Co-operative Building Society and the General Post Office. In addition, he won or placed in many art competitions with his poster designs.
Nine months after the start of the Second World War, Games was drafted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1941, Public Relations of the War Office were seeking a graphic designer to make recruitment posters for the Royal Armoured Corps, a newly formed tank regiment. They found Games for the role and he stayed in the position of poster designer for the army until he was discharged shortly after the war.
It wasn’t all rainbows and glitter for Games as far as being an artist for the Army. His work had been criticized for being “too socialist” or “disgraceful libel” as Winston Churchill described. His original design for the Auxiliary Territorial Service recruitment poster, known as The Blonde Bombshell was withdrawn. Another poster that was withdrawn was Your Britain, Fight for it Now.
After the war, Games continued his career as a freelance artist. Designing movie posters, book covers, stamps and business advertising. His reputation earned him commissions with the likes of British European Airways and Guinness. Even landing the opportunity to design the stamp for the 1948 London Olympics.
Dana Tanamachi
Another notable graphic designer is Dana Tanamachi. She was born in 1985 and grew up in the state of Texas. Her creativity stems from her grandmother’s passion to be creative. Her Grandmother, Mitsuye Tanamachi, learned to sew and make patterns in the Japanese-American internment camps during the Second World War. She always stayed positive and continued to sew and make beautiful things for her family, to include Dana.
Dana Tanamachi graduated from The University of Northern Texas in 2007. School is where Dana truly began exploring art. She found an interest in typography. What she learned was “there is a right way and wrong way to work with letters, but you learn the rules so you can break them.” Dana enjoys the structure that lettering requires, and playing with the boundaries of that structure to make her signature style. After college, she acquired graphic design jobs in New York City, ranging from Broadway posters to designing food packaging. She later discovered chalk lettering. It started as a hobby but her work became so recognizable, she became a freelance artist creating her own brand and style. Even landing her commissions with The Ace Hotel – NY, Google and Adidas to name a few. She retired from doing chalk art in 2014 to focus only on her graphic design skills and implementing her style on everything from book covers, coffee packaging, stamps, beer cans, and of course her own line of merchandise. All of which she keeps her fans and followers up to date on via social media and her own successful website.
Final Thoughts
It is apparent that graphic design is a powerful thing and can open many opportunities. Regardless of what era you are living in, graphic design can take you places and allow a creative to leave their mark on history. Abram Games is a great example. The influence his posters had on the war speaks to the potential a message through image can have. His style is very art deco I would say. Appropriate for the time though and that style is making quite the comeback through thing like video games such as fallout and cyberpunk. Generally, he will have a simple background with a little texture followed by an image that contrasts that background with very clean lines and clear messaging. He often uses symbolism and imagery to make the point of the message known. As far as I am concerned, Games is a godfather of the graphic design world and I appreciate the field more than ever.
Dana Tanamachi luckily didn’t have to be drafted in a war to find many opportunities through graphic design. Although World War Two indirectly had an impact on her creativity through her grandmother, who discovered her passion to be creative through that hard time. Dana never thought she would leave the Lone Star state she went where graphic design took her. Which we can say for both Dana and Abram. Dana’s career took her to New York where she found so much success, she made a life there. Her style relies mostly on typography. Her style was so unique and sought after that she didn’t need to do anything else. It isn’t always about making a statement and sending a message. For Dana’s work, the statement is in the eye grabbing nature of her style, which then leads you to read the typography. It is exciting to see the diversity of opportunities learning about these two power houses of graphic designers.