Subverting WPA posters has long been part of my design rubric. This time, I mined the “Civil Liberties During Wartime” WPA poster (a poster for a lecture by Max Lerner at Roosevelt High, Des Moines, Iowa and created by the Iowa Art Program between 1936 and 1940) to pay respect to the whistle blowers amongst us. Specifically, it honors Edward Snowden for standing up for democracy and exposing the abuses of those in power. His actions are reminiscent of those by Daniel Ellsberg who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971 detailing how President Lyndon B. Johnson had misled the public about the war in Vietnam. Snowden’s actions also reminds one of Wikileaks, Bradley Manning, and the escalation of the security state and the loss of privacy and civil liberties under the Obama Administration. To read Daniel Ellsberg’s editorial praising Edward Snowden, click here.

And, below is a single version of the WPA-inspired poster. It is copy-right free so share as you like.