Thursday, April 24, 2008

Subway Poster Art


This morning on the F train from Brooklyn to Manhattan I noticed the above poster. It's part of a series created for the Freelancer's Union. Besides the great yellow of the background, it caught my eye for its Bauhaus feel mixed with a modern day DIY hand stamping effect. A blog on the Freelancers Union website noted that the font spreads apart in the word "mobilize" suggesting an action to the word, a literal movement across the page.

The queen bee of the Freelancer's Union (sorry, couldn't resist), is Sarah Horowitz. She founded the organization in 1995 and has been working to bring independent workers healthcare and retirement benefits, among other things. There's a brief but interesting Q & A with her here where she talks about the rise in freelance work in this country and how, increasingly, companies hire contract workers versus staffers. She said:

"The workforce is definitely undergoing a shift. I think that more of the people who do work for large companies are going to be freelancers and independent consultants, and that there’s going to be a boom in entrepreneurship. The American dream isn’t just about a house in the suburbs anymore—for a lot of people, it’s now about doing what they love and being their own boss."


Workplace revolutions, the poster above, and the looming threat of a recession got me thinking about WPA-era art. I found a few for fun: