Analysis of wartime poster

The purpose of this wartime poster and many other wartime posters is to get young men to enlist in the army. Their main targets were young males between the ages of 16 and 30 who could be easily persuaded to enlist because they felt an obligation to fight for their country.

The thing that you first see in this poster is the finger pointing at you; it is as if the finger is actually coming out of the poster. This automatically gets your attention because it makes you feel as though the poster is directly pointed at you and drawing you in. The words read “Are YOU doing all you can?” emphasizing the “you”. This makes the viewer question themselves wondering if they really are doing all they can. There is also no face to go with the hand which is kind of scary because you are not exactly sure who it is that is pointing at you. The red, white, and blue colors of this poster give it a patriotic feel which would make most Americans feel connected with the poster.

This poster would make young men feel as though they are not doing all they can to help their country and could in turn make them sign up for the army. The designer of this poster did a good job of trying to install fear and guilt in this poster. It seems almost impossible for a young male during war time not to be effected by all the recruitment posters because they all send a strong message for them to enroll in the army the way this poster did.