A healthy, happy, peaceful world is possible. . . we just need to get a little more creative.

This is the slogan for Social Impact Studios, formerly Design for Social Impact, a Philadelphia-based graphic arts company:

We believe good causes should get more attention than anything else. And we believe thoughtful, beautiful and meaningful communication is still the best way to engage and motivate people. Social Impact Studios is a creative hub where groups and creative activists collaborate, learn and do the work.

I first connected with Social Impact founder Ennis Carter when my son was in a high school production of Pirates of Penzance and I was working on publicity. Surfing the web for possible poster images, I found a fascinating archive of digitized posters from the Depression era– Posters for the People. This collection included posters for performing arts events supported by the Works Projects Administration– yes, that WPA. There were also posters about free speech, personal hygiene, and WWII. I emailed Ennis for help with a poster from a Cincinnati  production of Pirates, and she graciously let me have the full digital file (because I had no budget, of course).

I highly recommend the book version of Posters for the People for every progressive coffee table.