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J Embleton was born in Hornsey, London, studied at Hornsey
Art School and did 'hound work' at a studio off the
Grays Inn Road. In 1924 he started work at Odhams Press
as a layout and lettering artist at £2.00 per
week. He later became Studio Manager for Odhams Press.
Embleton, although a commercial and graphic designer,
has not been personally identified on any wartime posters,
but, along with three other staff from Odhams, was seconded
to the MOI at the outbreak of the Second World War.
As Art Director and Studio Manager, Embleton employed
up to seventy members of staff by the end of the war,
including 'painters, designers, illustrators, visualisers,
layout artists, typographers, retouchers, letterers
and calligraphers, cartographers, pictorial statistics',
and cartoonists. This effectively created 'an advertising
agency within the publication division of the Ministry
of Information'. Embleton's task was to produce all
required official government literature, and he was
in charge of the design, poster and visualising group
for both the general and overseas production divisions.
Embleton was responsible for preparing, overseeing
and following the projects through to completion,
and was given a free hand to commission designs from
whichever artists and designers he chose. Embleton
returned to Odhams Press after peace was declared
in 1945.
Winston Churchill wrote a special letter of thanks
through the Minister of Information for a 'special
job of work' and Embleton was awarded the MBE (Member
of the Order of the British Empire) for his service
to the war effort. Various items from his collection
of MOI printed material are held at the National Art
Library (NAL), and the Imperial War Museum (IWM) holds
three scrapbooks of press clippings related to the
MOI, which Embleton kept throughout the war. In September
1989, Embleton's collection of Second World War posters
was put up for auction by Onslow's, specialist auctioneers.
Information collated from: 'Edwin J Embleton
1907- Great Britain, Ministry of Information', AAD/1996/4
- Archive of Art & Design. Entry in Public Access
Catalogue, National Art Library, V&A; National
Art Library, 'AAD Holdings', http://www.nal.vam.ac.uk/aad/aadalpha.html,
accessed August 28 2003; Onslow's Auction Catalogue,
'War Posters: Including the Great War and E J Embleton
Collection of Second World War Posters', September
14 1989 (A copy of the catalogue for this exhibition
is held at the Imperial War Museum); Questionnaire
submitted by Royall, K. to Embleton, E., Royall, K.,
'Posters of the Second World War: The Fourth Arm of
British Defence', Unpublished M.A., University of
Westminster, 1991, p.123 [Royall is Graduate Officer
at the V&A.]
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