Making of — American Kingdoms Poster
The Kaiser Cat Collective team is proud to present the world's first American Kingdoms 'propaganda poster'! For the American Kingdoms project, me and Yana developed a new series of posters that play up the unusual iconography of medieval American knights. Because a traditional propaganda poster would not really fit the setting, we are developing alternate ideas such as museum exhibition posters, travel posters and other art prints that add lore to the alt-history universe.
From Kaiserreich concept art to Kaiser Cat Collective
As early as the poster give-away at PDX-CON 2017, The Kaiser Cat Cinema project originally started as an art project for Kaiserreich. Propaganda posters were a huge part of that DNA, and over time they’ve become one of the most recognizable parts of what we do. Recently we’ve been expanding that approach for both American Kingdoms and World War 2044, treating posters not just as merch, but as integral parts of the worldbuilding and story.
Finding a new style
A big inspiration here was early 20th-century illustration, especially that expressive, painterly brushwork you see in the classic works of L.C Leyendecker. We spent a surprising amount of time trying to translate that energy into something that still feels grounded in a pseudo-medieval America.
The goal wasn’t “fantasy America.” It was something stranger and more specific - imagine historical illustration traditions applied to Founding-Father-era mythmaking.
Some fun stuff
As always, we like to add fun details with wide-ranging implications:
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A ceremonial sword engraved with E Pluribus Unum - our literal take on Manifest Destiny.
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A mythologized Lady Liberty figure as a sacred, almost Joanne of Arc-esque icon.
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Exhibition framing (“National Museum”, “Manhattan Castle”, etc.) to imply the current-day form of New York with medieval origins.
Supporting the Project
Art sales and Patreon support are a major part of how we fund KCC projects, so if you are planning on getting a copy of this poster - thanks for the support! You can get framed and poster prints via the webshop: https://kaisercatcinema.com/products/medieval-american-museum-poster-manhattan-castle-exhibition
To wrap up this small Making Of, enjoy some glorious high-resolution details form the new poster!
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