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Operation Desert Storm

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I have recently been commissioned to produce a poster commemorating the twentieth anniversary of Operation Desert Storm. That might sound odd to a lot of people, especially those who have not served or don't come from a family history of military service. I can understand that. Let me say right off the bat that I do not condone war. It is a horrible thing any way you look at it.

The poster is to be aimed at vets of the operation and of the first Gulf War in general. So why would someone want to celebrate such a thing? Let me explain briefly:

I am a veteran. I served with the 101st ABN DIV for four years as an infantryman. I was lucky enough to have my service years squeeze between the first Gulf War and September 11th, 2001. I did not see combat. I can, however, understand what such a thing might do to a person. It's the kind of thing we trained for constantly and if my country had called on me to go into combat I would have done so without a second thought. It was my job.

For those who did serve during Operation Desert Storm, it was surely a life-defining time for them. When someone is told that they are about to be sent overseas into a hostile environment where people you don't know will be trying to kill you, I can only assume it to be a harrowing piece of news. You fear you might never return to your family and loved ones. All the things you thought you might go on to do in your life are potentially out the window. That's a lot to deal with mentally. For those men and women to make it home alive must be an amazing thing. To say that they value their lives more than most of us can ever imaging might be an understatement. These are the types of experiences that stay with a person, burned deeply into their memories. It is something they carry around with them every single day for the rest of their lives and this is why a veteran of the experience might want something to help them honor that part of their lives. I respect that deeply.

For this poster the client wanted to loosely portray the emotional story of the soldiers that served during this time period, from the pain and fear of leaving loved ones and venturing into the unknown, through the difficulties of combat to the undeniable joy of returning home. Mixed with that are elements of technology that help represent all the branches of service involved.

An extra element for this poster is the option of a vet having their portrait inserted into the poster. It's a cool idea to allow the poster to be individualized like this but at the same time it's a huge challenge. The poster has to have room designed into it for this optional portrait and yet still feel like a balanced composition if the portrait is not added. Hopefully what I have come up with accomplishes this. The optional portrait will go on the left hand side, over the flag.

You can read more about the poster and my process for creating it on my blog, plus see tons of close-ups and works in progress. [link]

edit: I totally forgot to mention: anyone interested in buying one of these posters can do so here: [link]
Image size
1500x1974px 2.04 MB
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KommissarValkyre's avatar

Operation "Kill the Man we gave weapons to fight Iran but failed and now turns back on us after we don't pay him".