(1914-96)
One of Britain's leading graphic designers of the 20th century Games enjoyed a successful career that commenced in the 1930s and endured for more than six decades. Unlike a number of his contemporaries, such as F.H.K. Henrion, who were influential in the development of design consultancies in Britain, Games was fiercely independent for much of his professional life, eschewing conformity in educational, commercial, and institutional regimes. After a brief, frustrating period at Saint Martin's School of Art in 1930 Games was employed as an assistant to his photographer father and then in the commercial art studios of Askew-Young (1932-6). However, from 1936 (when he was dismissed from Askew-Young) he worked as an independent designer. In his early years he was influenced by designers such as A.M. Cassandre, Jean Carlu, Paul Colin, and Edward McKnight Kauffer. Aided by the publicity afforded by an article featuring his work in Art & Industry he was commissioned for poster designs by a number of important clients for whom design was important in corporate projection, including London Transport, the GPO (General Post Office), and Shell. Jack Beddington, the highly influential design director at Shell, recommended his appointment to the Public Relations Department at the War Office in 1941. As an official war poster designer he produced more than 100 posters that reflected an eye for striking, yet simple, Modernist designs effectively conveying important messages to both civilians and fighting forces. A number of these designs proved controversial, including a 1941 Auxilliary Territorial Service recruiting poster that portrayed a glamorous woman soldier (the ‘blonde bombshell’) and his contribution to the Your Britain, Fight for it Now campaign for the Army Bureau of Current Affairs in 1942. The former was criticized both by the Army and the government as over-glamorizing the ATS. The latter, which revealed his socialist beliefs through the juxtaposition of a post-war vision of modern schools, housing, and health centres and the miserable reality of contemporary life endured by many, attracted the wrath of the War Cabinet. Although occasionally using photography as an ingredient in his work and highly skilled in the use of Airbrush technique, drawing was at the root of his design work. After the war, Games returned to freelance design practice, based in his north London home, again working for a range of prestigious clients such as British European Airways (BEA), the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), The Times, the Financial Times, Murphy Television, and Guinness. In 1948 a number of leading British designers were invited to design a symbol for the Festival of Britain of 1951. Against strong competition which included Edward Bawden, Robin Day, F.H.K. Henrion, and Richard Guyatt, Games won the competition with a strikingly upbeat and festive design of Britannia in red, white, and blue which was found on a wide range of Festival posters, publications, and souvenirs. In addition to the wide range of graphic designs that covered a wide spectrum from postage stamps (including the 1948 Olympic Games and award-winning Jersey stamps of 1976) to book covers, from posters to corporate symbols (including the BBC (1952) and GKN (1968) ), Games also worked in the field of product design. His best-known design in this field was the highly successful Cona Coffee machine which went into production 1959. Games received a number of awards in recognition of his versatility as a leading designer, including the OBE (1957), election as Royal Designer (1959), the Queen's Award for Industry (1965), and a D&AD lifetime achievement award (1991). He was also involved in design education, teaching at the Royal College of Art (1946-53) in Professor Guyatt's School of Graphic Design and, particularly in the latter stages of his career, lecturing on and exhibiting his work at many universities and art schools throughout Britain.
