ABRAM GAMES (1914-1966) BLOOD DONORS. 1944. 29 1/4x19 inches. 74x48 cm. Field Sons & Co., Bradford. Condition B+: restoration and overpainting at edges and in corners, slightly affecting image; creases in margins and image; vertical and horizontal folds. Born in Whitechapel, London, Abram Games became one of Britain's foremost graphic artists. Largely self-taught, Games opened his studio in 1936 and, before the war, was already designing posters for major clients such as Shell, The London Transport and The National Post-Office. In 1940 he was assigned to the War Office and, in 1942, he was appointed the "Official War Poster Designer," in which capacity he created more than 100 posters and became the key person for British war communication. He continued to be prolific after the war ended, enjoying his position as the preeminent graphic designer in England. This largely typographical composition uses lines of text running along opposite diagonals to capture the public's eye. The text is against the background of a dial, which ambiguously evokes both a clock, and a blood pressure gauge. Not in Games.
