Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Peace Signs is the ultimate collection of posters and graphics from the war in Iraq--uncensored, political, and thought-provoking. It includes over 200 full color posters from artists and designers from over 22 countries worldwide, featuring artwork by the prominent American poster artists Seth Tobocman, Shepard Fairey, Winston Smith, Chuck Sperry, Sue Coe, Ward Sutton, Nicole Schuman, and Mike Flugennock.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In early 2003, activists opposed to the war in Iraq produced thousands of anti-invasion posters for rallies around the world. ?The idea of the skilled, trained artist was erased,? design historian Nicolas Lampert explains in the introduction to this survey of the anti-war images; ?with the influx of computer design programs, scanners and photocopy machines, nearly any person with an idea could create a thought-provoking visual statement.? As this book shows, however, the results of such newfound design democracy are mixed. Some of the book?s 187 images are indeed bold, sophisticated and arresting. Mark Vallen?s poster ?Not our Children, Not their Children,? for example, contains a moving, realistic drawing of a man carrying a wounded boy. And Amedeo De Palma?s elaborate Photoshop collage, ?This is America!,? is a colorful parody of Oval Office jingoism. Many of the most compelling entries convey specific ideas rather than mere opposition to war itself?TomPaine.com?s ?I Want You,? for example, presents an Uncle Sam-style recruiting poster in which Osama bin Ladin exhorts America to invade Iraq so that he can gain new recruits. Less successful entries, though, seem to exist as little more than rudimentary design exercises. Mann organizes the anti-war images into seven thematic categories (e.g. No Blood for Oil, Collateral Damage), and this arrangement can be monotonous. The section entitled ?Bombs Over Baghdad,? for example, offers 29 consecutive pages of bombs morphing into gravestones, pills, footballs, crayons and pretzels. But if the book as a whole suffers from uninspired presentation, it nonetheless provides a valuable survey of how professional and amateur designers have responded to the Iraq war. 230 color illustrations (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

CHOICE Review

The 200 anti-war graphics in this large-format book (9 x 13 inches) were created, according to historian Howard Zinn, to "wake us up, cause us to think, and hopefully to act." Although the immediate provocation is the war in Iraq, the overt messages are addressed to war in general. There are succinct essays for each of the seven sections: "The Copy-left and Dotcom Dissent"; "No Blood for Oil"; "Bombs over Baghdad"; "Parody & Satire"; "Coalition of the Unwilling"; "Collateral Damage"; and "Peace Signs." German and French versions help point out the international genesis and market for these posters. The aggressive activist content is meant to "counter mass media's pro-war stance." We are provided with an introductory brief history, with a focus on WW I and the Vietnam War and the increasing use of the Internet. Black and white dominate the images because of the ease of duplication. These graphics merge art and technology in ways to assault our sense, even in an age of advertising overload. No doubt some readers will be offended by some of the visual messages. A 15-title bibliography (in English) adds fuel to the fire. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All readers. K. Marantz emeritus, Ohio State University