Image Analysis (Portfolio task 1)

Comparative analysis: The Uncle Sam Range' (1876) advertising image by Shumacher & Ettlinger, New york and A poster by Saville Lumley (1915)

The posters that I am analysing are both done in the form of illustration. Both posters are aimed at very different audiences, the top poster aimed at americans to buy a product and the lower poster aimed at english people about what they are doing for the war.

Each illustration is patriotic yet in very different ways. The Uncle Sam poster mainly uses the colours red, blue, and white. The use of these colours, teamed with the furnish coverings of stars and stripes automatically gets you thinking of the american flag, and how obviously proud, the people in the illustration are to be american. Whereas in comparison the poster by Saville Lumley use dull colours which is more english. The family set up in both images is also very different. In the Uncle Sam poster the family is of a high class, which you can tell from the furnishings and the fact they have a slave, showing that if you buy or use their product you be of a higher class of those who don't, implying that their product gives you status. In Lumley's poster the family portrayed, is a middle class family, all the figure in the illustration are well dressed and the little boy is playing with a set of soldiers and the girl is reading a history book.

The uncle sam poster uses a large bold typeface that would normally stand out, but because of the placement and the colour of the type it doesn't push the illustration aside and instead sits equally on the poster alongside the illustration. Also the type is all in uppercase making it look powerful and demanding. The text used in the english poster by Saville Lumley is completely different and is a lot smaller in comparison. Due to the use of italics and the typeface used the poster looks friendly. Plus the text on Lumley's poster is a question which starts with the word 'daddy' implying that the little girl sat on his lap has said it. The look on her fathers face shows regret and embarrassment. It is obvious that he didn't help in the war and therefore is ashamed. The concept of the poster is to show people that if they don't help in the war then they will regret it and they will bring shame on their families.

Although the two posters are very different, they do share similarities. The main figure in both illustrations is the male/ father who all the other figures are looking up to. But in different ways, in the Uncle Sam poster they are all looking up to him proudly, whereas in the War poster the girl is looking as him questioningly.