The emergence of the First World War also had an impact on Graphic Design’s history. 

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Before, the Russian Revolution had changed how the “social and economic structure of that country.  Artists began to become the forefront to change and part of new artistic strategies in the West”.  Some of these major contributors include famous artists Malevich, Kandinsky and El Lissitzky.  Some consider these artists to be the forefront to abstraction.  The Frist World War also caused the “concern of political propaganda.” Some movements that became a response to this include constructivism, futurism, dada, and eventually surrealism.  All of these movements “combined new ideas of society with a new revolutionary approach to design.” (Roberts, 20-21)

In 1917, an American artist by the name of James Montgomery Flagg designed the infamous ‘I want YOU for the U.S. Army’ self-portrait poster.  This was one of the first recognized pieces of propaganda using Graphic Design.  Flagg was inspired by British artist Alfred Leete.  Graphic Design was making its way of influence around the world (“Key Moments”).