Leading today with a simple, but effective poster from the Bristol Aeroplane Company (from here) at a 1950s SBAC Farnborough airshow. I presume the flag is Bristol’s own house standard, and note the ‘Bristol’ logotype we discussed earlier here. From the top, the aircraft depicted are the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon, Type 175 Britannia, Type…
Tag: Map
The SLV’s Dutchmen
Currently on at the State Library of Victoria (re-opening today) is the ‘Velvet, Iron, Ashes’ exhibition, which among several other great things contains an excellent selection of items relating to the 1934 MacRobertson air race. The display includes a newsreel highlights, and the promotional poster (seen above) as well as one of the many route…
Imperial Tube
Today’s Poster has an obvious heritage, that of Henry Beck’s iconic London Underground map. Previously ‘forgotten’, it’s an interesting take on the airline and public transport route map concept; something that has much more social history than is often realised. From the new “Airline Maps: A Century of Art & Design” book, details here. There’s…
Sea Clippers, Land Clippers
Today’s poster, by artist Kenneth Thompson, is a ‘Pan American’ (later more familiar as ‘Pan Am’) poster advertising the earlier iteration of their ‘Clipper’ airliners. In the American vernacular ‘ship’ for an aircraft was regularly used, adding another layer to the ‘clipper ship’ call-back to earlier times. Then, a lot of promotion assumed marine aircraft…
Bigger Bombs, Yet
It was vital to the British war effort mid war to be able to show how Britain – primarily through Bomber Command – was hitting back at Germany, in return for the very evident damaged being done to the UK. Graphic bombs was one answer, but only in a peculiarly limited way. Here the illustrated…
Atlantic Air Ship or Flying Boat?
Today’s Poster is for three German inter-war companies promoting their Europe – South America service. With a Zeppelin type airship making a return trip, and a Dornier Do 18 flying boat on the way out, airmail post is offered in just three days. Deutsche Lufthanda, Symdicato Condor LTDA and Deutsche Zepplein Reederei are the three…
Air France World 2
Today’s Poster follows yesterday’s. Designed by Lucien Boucher, it’s a 1949 poster advertising the ‘Orient – Extreme Orient’ destination with a orientalist design theme. A magnificent bird faces a Chinese style pagoda, with an Indian building behind it, all located over a map extending from India to China and the Oriental nations in between. Top…
It’s an Air France World
Today’s Poster. When an airline ‘owned’ the world. Today we are used to a diversity of airlines and cheaper carriers, so it’s easy to forget where each nation basically had one, national flag carrier. Here it’s Air France, by Lucien Boucher. As you’d expect, this brings not just their routes (almost an afterthought) but their…
Alabama Bomber
Today’s Poster is a classic ‘shadow of the bomber’, over a very specific audience, that of the citizens of Alabama, shown by the state’s unique geographic shape. Catalogued in the Library of Congress as a War Projects Administration War Services poster, created between 1941 and 1943, it’s given as by ‘Welch’, but with no other…
3,000 km Across the Atlantic
Today’s Poster. Commemorating Italo Balbo’s 1930 flight of twelve Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boats from Orbetello Airfield, Italy to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between 17 December 1930 and 15 January 1931. The poster is listed as from 1931 – I.G.A.P. Roma, 98 cm x 140 cm, artist : Umberto Di Lazzaro. This is where the term…
A Year of Aviation Illustration & Art 