A few months ago I took a position working for the Imperial War Museum as a designer – a move which has been rewarding, motivating, challenging and tiring. One thing I became aware of quite quickly was that working in situ at the museum has provoked me to think acutely about the way in which I obtain inspiration for my work. Being exposed to their rich and historically important archives of wartime poster design has been particularly thrilling.

On my first day, I was handed a copy of a recent publication that the museum put out called British Posters of the Second World War. This compact catalogue focuses on the works and personal stories of some of the artists from the collection (many of whom were immigrants escaping nazi persecution) and weaves a stirring and comprehensive summary of some of the most iconic posters of the last century. The layout and format is clear and most pages have a good amount of the total percentage given over to large and well-toned images.

Everyone from Dorrit Dekk, to Abram Games, to my hero, Frank Newbould has earned a nostalgic place in this book. The well recognised (and often copied) classic themes are in there too. There’s the sickeningly omnipresent ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, the optimistic ‘Dig For Victory’ and the politely commanding ‘General Post Office’ series.

For £9.99 this book is an absolute steal. I keep a copy to hand for emergency inspiration purposes, but I’d love to see a volume two featuring the imperialistic typographic posters of the 1st world war. I must try to find the publications department for a chat… Hmm.