Abram Games

Abram Games was born in Whitechapel, London, in 1914 to a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland. He showed artistic talent early, but formal training was limited; he studied at St Martin's School of Art for only a short period before leaving to work as a commercial artist. His early freelance work included posters for London Transport and the BBC, where he developed a distinctive style combining flat color, dynamic geometry, and witty symbolism.

Games joined the War Office in 1940 and was appointed Official War Poster Artist in 1942. Over the war he produced around 100 posters on themes ranging from recruitment and production to civil defense and health. His most famous work, Your Britain Fight for It Now (1942), depicted a burning building with a modern hospital emerging from the flames, a design that sparked controversy for its implicit social commentary. Other notable posters include Join the ATS and Careless Talk Costs Lives, which used bold graphics and minimal text to deliver powerful messages.

After the war, Games continued his career as a graphic designer, creating posters for British Railways, the Festival of Britain (1951), and various corporate clients. He also designed the iconic logo for the 1948 London Olympics, which featured the Houses of Parliament and the Olympic rings. Games was a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and taught at the Royal College of Art. His work is held in major collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Imperial War Museum.

Beyond posters, Games designed postage stamps, including the 1953 Coronation stamp for Queen Elizabeth II, and created the emblem for the 1951 Festival of Britain. He was also an early advocate for the use of photomontage in graphic design, combining photography with illustration in his war posters. Games wrote a book, Over My Shoulder (1960), reflecting on his career. He was known for his strong opinions on design ethics, believing that a poster should be 'a swift, penetrating communication' that respects the viewer's intelligence. His work has been the subject of retrospectives at the National Portrait Gallery and the Design Museum.

Photomontage

A technique of combining multiple photographs to create a composite image.