Style combination · Contrasts

Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster × Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

Its parent models figures in gradients and depth; flatten the same heroic subject into two tones to see what the Vietnamese poster gains in punch.

From the research on Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

Mix them and make something Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster, their arrangement from Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster, the finish from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

Type from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster: Hand-lettering
All caps
Colour from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster: Limited spot colours
Flat fields
Form from Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster: Naturalistic depiction
Stylised figuration
Composition from Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster: Diagonal axis
Full bleed
Surface from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster: Painterly brushwork
Flat

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Vietnamese Propaganda Poster

Act

Anton, standing in for Hand-painted Quốc ngữ condensed sans capitals with stacked diacritics

Text · Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster

The official art doctrine of the Soviet Union from 1932, later exported across the socialist world, which replaced avant-garde experiment with legible, heroic realism 'national in form, socialist in content'. Its posters show idealised workers, soldiers and leaders on rising diagonals and low horizons, bathed in red, with bold slogans promising a radiant future; in China they merged with New Year print and calendar-poster conventions.

Zen Kaku Gothic New; Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster used Hand-drawn Cyrillic poster capitals in condensed grotesque and slab forms and Songti and Heiti display characters

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Vietnamese Propaganda Poster, with a counter-accent from Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)

#efe3c6 ground · 36%
#171717 ink · 14%
#f3c623 accent · 18%
#d22a21 accent · 14%
#3b7a3e accent · 10%
#b5651d accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #efe3c6;
  --ink: #171717;
  --accent-1: #f3c623;
  --accent-2: #d22a21;
  --accent-3: #3b7a3e;
  --accent-4: #b5651d;
  --font-display: "Anton", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động): These are state propaganda of a one-party government that still commissions them, and wartime sheets celebrate shooting down American aircraft and defeating enemy soldiers; present them as historical sources with context, not as kitsch decor. Many posters sold to tourists are recent repaintings or reproductions, so date and attribute carefully, and keep Vietnamese diacritics intact in any slogan.

The two styles

A painted propaganda-style poster shows a worker raising a red flag, a woman holding golden grain, a soldier carrying a rifle with a bayonet, and a bespectacled man holding rolled plans. The words “BRIGHTER TOMORROW” appear above them, with a sunrise, mountains, a city, an elevated train and a dam in the background.

1932–1989 · Eastern Europe, Central Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster The official art doctrine of the Soviet Union from 1932, later exported across the socialist world, which replaced avant-garde experiment with legible, heroic realism 'national in form, socialist in content'. Its posters show idealised workers, soldiers and leaders on rising diagonals and low horizons, bathed in red, with bold slogans promising a radiant future; in China they merged with New Year print and calendar-poster conventions. 1945–present · Southeast Asia Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động) The state poster art of Vietnam from the 1945 August Revolution to today. Where Soviet and Chinese socialist realism model heroic figures in full colour, Vietnamese posters flatten soldiers, militia women, farmers, weapons and crops into silhouettes and blocky planes in one to three tones, usually red, yellow and black. Originals were cut in wood during the resistance, then hand-painted in gouache or tempera, often over stencils, with a slogan in Quốc ngữ capitals.