General Dynamics

In 1955, he was hired as art director by the newly founded industrial giant General Dynamics, where he developed a strong, modern graphic identity for the company.

To coincide with the first conferences of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1955 and 1958, he designed the famous series of posters entitled ‘Atoms for Peace’ for General Dynamics.

Erik Nitsche created highly symbolic posters inspired by the ‘Swiss International Style’, aided by the mastery of lithographic printing of his friend Roger Marsens, a printer based in Lausanne.

GENERAL DYNAMICS

The General Dynamics company was founded in 1952 through the merger of Electric Boat and Canadair Ltd. This industrial company is at the forefront of scientific research in the fields of atomic energy, electricity, electronics, aerodynamics and space dynamics.

The company manufactures aircraft, rockets, nuclear power plants and medical instruments, mainly for the US government. Highlights include the first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus.

The company was very active during the first IAEA conferences in 1955 and 1958. It commissioned its art director Erik Nitsche to design a series of posters promoting the many areas of research related to new technologies.

At that time, faith in science was boundless, resources were considered unlimited, progress was marching forward and everything seemed possible.

The advertisements
Some images for General Dynamics, signed E.N., were mistakenly considered posters.
In fact, they are pages from books and magazine advertisements.

Dating the posters
The publication date of these posters was given as ‘1955 to 1961’, with no further details. By cross-referencing data from the Erik Nitsche archive with several interviews, photos and articles, we were able to pinpoint the dates of each of these posters. This was made possible in particular by a small photo published in the magazine ‘Industrial Design #5’ in June 1957 (image on the right). This photograph of a display at the Comptoir de Lausanne in 1957 enabled us to confirm the existence of the first posters in the ‘exploring the universe’ series in 1957 and therefore to date them with certainty.

Series 1: atoms for peace, 1955 and 1956
Series 2: exploring the universe, 1957 and 1958
Series 3: General Dynamics divisions, 1959 and 1960
Exhibition at the Rockefeller Plaza, 1961

The inspiration
This archive and the book 'Dynamic America' also helped uncover the sources of inspiration for some of these posters and allow for a better interpretation. Examples include the photographs that inspired Nitsche's posters ‘atoms im dienste des friedens’, 'triga' and ‘industrial gases’.

The symbolism
All this cross-referenced data enabled us to determine the context, meaning and symbolic density of each of these posters.

The results of our research are presented below.

The first 'International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy' was held at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva from 8 to 20 August 1955.

All aspects of atomic energy were discussed, from mining to nuclear power plants, university research and medical applications.

The outcome of this conference led to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1956, which was ratified by almost all states at the second conference in 1958.

A few rare copies of the ‘atoms for peace’ series have the dates of the conference, ‘Geneva, August 8-20,’ printed on them.

First poster in the series ‘atoms for peace’. This pyramid of flags symbolises all nations under the atomic symbol, topped by the conference slogan in English, ‘atoms for peace’.

Rare version with the conference dates superimposed:
"Geneva, August 8-20" >

< General Dynamics' most famous poster, featuring the globe at the centre of a nautilus shell. Emerging from the spiral is the Nautilus atomic submarine, the pinnacle of technology at the time.

USS Nautilus version
of the poster for the U.S. territories. >

Erik Nitsche and printer Roger Marsens working on the lithographic stone for the Nautilus poster in 1955.

The ‘astrodynamics’ poster illustrates research into ballistics and rocket orbiting.

Rare version with the conference dates superimposed:
‘Geneva, August 8-20’ >

Rare version with the
conference dates
superimposed:
‘Geneva, August 8-20’ >

Nuclear electricity, symbolised by the atom in the centre of a light bulb, lights up the world.

Rare version with the
conference dates
superimposed:
‘Geneva, August 8-20’ >

In this poster, Erik Nitsche refers to molecular research and Mendeleev's periodic table. Directly inspired by certain representations of the isotope table, this poster is a beautiful illustration of nuclear research.

Rare version with the
conference dates
superimposed:
"Geneva, August 8-20" >

On this poster, a mosaic composed of concentric circles symbolises the nuclear reactions of the sun.

In this stunning illustration of how early computers operated, three circles of different colours flash like traffic lights in a network of computer synapses.

Subtitled ‘radiation dynamics’, this poster poetically depicts research into mutations and radiation in plants, which foreshadows today's genetic engineering.

In this poster, Erik Nitsche illustrates research into gravitation and electromagnetism, two of the basic forces that govern the universe, from microwaves to the movements of stars.
The red dot in a white circle can represent an atom or a sun, but can also be interpreted as an egg, symbolising the Big Bang, the beginning of the universe and time.

On the French poster subtitled ‘nuclear fusion’, the multiple layers of colour from the dark exterior towards a lighter centre, suggest the crushing and fusion of matter. This compression effect is reinforced by the two opposing arrows that heat the plutonium bar to red.
To design this extraordinary poster, a perfect illustration of nuclear fusion, Erik Nitsche was undoubtedly inspired by his friend, the famous painter Paul Klee.
Erik Nitsche at the height of symbolism and his art.

< Extremely rare poster
with the text
‘first step into space’.

Before the letter version,
without the text
‘first step into space' >

< With the text:
'exploring the universe, worlds without end'

Proof before the letter,
without text >

This abstract image, inspired by the artistic movements of ‘dripping’ and ‘Lyrical Abstraction’, illustrates the collisions of atoms and the resulting subatomic dust in a particle accelerator and collider.

Before the letter version,
without the text
"exploring the universe, subatomic worlds" >

< 'exploring the universe,
nuclear fusion'

'exploring the universe,
basic forces' >

The sea in motion, depicted by successive layers and emphasised by the image of a jellyfish, symbolises research into the energy of sea currents, tides and waves.
An extremely rare poster, one of the most beautiful in the General Dynamics series.

The text on this poster suggests research to understand and attempt to control rainfall and weather using chemistry, symbolised by the beaker.
To date, the only attempts to induce rain or hail that have achieved (modest) results are those using silver iodide spraying.

TRIGA is the name given to an experimental nuclear reactor built by General Atomics, a division of General Dynamics.

On this poster, Erik Nitsche creates a photomontage inspired by the photo on the right >

The TRIGA Mark II experimental reactor was unveiled to the public at the 2nd International Conference on the peaceful uses of atomic energy, held in Geneva in September 1958.

People came with their families to admire this reactor in the former Palais des Expositions in the Plainpalais area of central Geneva!

In 1955, General Dynamics acquired Stromberg-Carlson, a company with extensive experience in electronics and telecommunications.
On a map, Erik Nitsche superimposed concentric circles representing radio transmissions or radar signals.
In a flash of inspiration, he drew the Wi-Fi logo 40 years ahead of its time.
Once again, Erik Nitsche was at the forefront of graphic and technological design.

It is in the depths that we will find the energy to light and heat our homes.
Material Service, a coal mining company, is acquired by General Dynamics in 1959.
On this poster, an arrow sinking into the earth changes colour from blue, a cold colour, to yellow and then to red, the warmest colour. In the background, silhouettes of houses in the night, with their lit windows, are symbols of warmth and life.

Inspired by the work of Piet Mondrian, Erik Nitsche suggests scaffolding and construction equipment in this magnificent poster.

A spiral that transitions from purple (a moderately cool colour) to blue (very cool) to the black of absolute zero, symbolising the techniques of cold and liquid nitrogen in medicine.
This time, Erik Nitsche draws his inspiration from kinetic art, which was in full swing in the late 1950s.
With this spiral, which, when viewed from the front, begins to spin and draws us into an endless fall, Nitsche heralds the optical and hallucinatory art that officially emerged in 1962, two years after this poster was created.
Once again, Erik Nitsche is at the forefront of artistic creation.

A highly technical drawing of a tangle of pipes inspired by the Liquid Carbonic division in Oakland.

General Dynamics was founded in 1952 through the merger of Electric Boat and Canadair Ltd.

Electric Boat, founded in 1891, contributed naval and electric motor technology, which enabled the launch of the Nautilus submarine in 1955.

A modernist design pays tribute to this jewel of aeronautical engineering.

In 1959, the aeronautical division of General Dynamics, CONVAIR, produced the world's fastest airliner, the Convair 880, named after its very high speed of 880 feet per second (970 km/h).

To this day, its modified version, the 990, remains the fastest civil transport aircraft ever built, with the exception of the Concorde.

Today, for reasons of speed/fuel efficiency, aircraft fly slightly slower, at a cruising speed of between 800 and 900 km/h.

On this poster for the CL-44 cargo plane built by Canadair, a division of General Dynamics, Erik Nitsche chose to draw a wooden crate in dark brown tones on the ground, which lightens and brightens as it rises, eventually becoming azure blue, the colour of the sky.

< Version with text in English
(rare)

Version before the letter
without text >

Introduced in 1962, the Convair 990 Coronado had a maximum speed of Mach 0.91 (approximately 1,100 km/h), a world record for an airliner until the Concorde entered service. American Airlines was the first operator to use the Convair 990 Coronado.

Following numerous technical problems and high fuel consumption, this aircraft was a commercial failure that cost General Dynamics dearly. Only 37 units were produced between 1961 and 1963.

< Rare version
with text in English:
"triga around the world"

Version before the letter
without text >

Minerva was the Roman goddess of war, but also the protector of the arts, commerce and strategy.

The Minerva poster
before the letter,
extremely rare >

The silhouette of the Nautilus was classified as ‘secret’. To design his ‘hydrodynamics’ poster in 1955 and this poster for the 1961 exhibition, Erik Nitsche drew inspiration from more or less fantastical drawings of submarines dating from 1850 to 1896.

By acquiring, in 1955, Stromberg-Carlson (founded in 1894), General Dynamics gained extensive experience in telecommunications and electronics.

This experience would prove invaluable in the development of its radar systems.

Photos of William Woodnut Griscom, founder of the Electric Boat company in 1891, which became General Dynamics in 1952, and two famous products of this former company: an electric tram and a strange ‘Dr. Scott's Electric Corset’.

A 1630 engraving depicting an imaginary naval battle and a line of dragons on horseback framing the image of a distant solar system heralds the future ‘Star Wars’.

Old telephones manufactured by Stromberg-Carlson, a telecommunications company founded in 1894 and acquired by General Dynamics in 1955.

Poster featuring the Minerva, designed in 1803, and the Convair B-58 Hustler, the first strategic bomber to reach Mach 2.

During his career Erik Nitsche participated in numerous business publications and designed quite a few other posters such as this one for the ‘Canada Cup Wentworth’ an international golf championship of 1956.

Erik Nitsche, Biography (1908-1998)

Erik Nitsche studied in Lausanne, Switzerland, then moved to the United States at the age of 26, where he had a successful career as graphic designer and art director. Across the Atlantic, he began his career designing record sleeves for Decca. In 1955, he was hired as art director for the engineering company General Dynamics. He created a breakthrough series of posters, in addition to designing their corporate image, annual reports, and advertising. After the 1960's, he worked mainly on children's books.

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