This month marks the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Works Progress Administration. A product of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, the WPA provided almost 8 million jobs for Americans between 1935 and 1943. The agency conducted many public works projects including bridges, roads and public buildings. In addition to building projects, the WPA also funded projects in the arts and employed out of work artists to create community murals, posters, etc.
With subject matter ranging from promoting musical and dramatic productions and highlighting national attractions to encouraging safety and disseminating public service messages, the posters created under the WPA represent a wide range of design styles, uses of typography and illustration. Many of the multi-colored posters are fine examples of the technique of silk-screening, a method Dux D’Lux uses to hand-print our tee shirts. The designs are certainly nostalgic and appealing to 20th Century design connoisseurs. But, we also think the images display a simplicity required by the printing technique and a timeless quality that can serve as wonderful design inspiration today. Needless to say, the overlays of color and shapes in many of the posters represent a craftsmanship and artistic skill we admire. We hope you’ll be inspired by these examples of quality printing and design from the Depression era. [These images were retrieved from the Posters for the People project, which aims to locate and archive unknown examples of WPA posters and created a comprehensive repository of the work produced by this landmark public endeavor.]







Tee shirts are always a favorite for school clubs and events, and are a great way to hold on to summer after classes begin. These tee shirt colors are some of the recent popular choices and can easily transition into fall events while keeping a touch of summer’s heat. We’ve noticed that they’re a hit with the student crowd!

