The IWM archives contain an extensive and varied collection of posters, documenting the social, cultural, moral and ethical issues of warring nations from 1914 onwards. In 2003, IWM joined with the Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design (MIRIAD) at Manchester Metropolitan University, on a major project: Posters of Conflict.
The three-year project, which was awarded over £300,000 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, sought to catalogue, digitally photograph and publish online around 10,000 posters from the Museum's internationally important collection. The publicity, propaganda, and advertising campaigns provide insight into the importance of the mass media in forming citizen and consumer identities. Beyond this the posters, which include work by leading twentieth-century designers from Britain and abroad, speak to themes of commercial art and graphic design.
More information about the project can be found here.