Edward McKnight Kauffer was a key figure in interwar British commercial art, working alongside institutions such as the BBC, the London Underground, and the Empire Marketing Board. In contrast to his predecessors, Kauffer’s graphic style drew heavily from the avant-garde, an approach to commercial art that lay at the core of his critical acclaim in interwar England. While many critics felt his work offended public sensibilities, his supporters recognised his ability to translate modernist aesthetics into a clear, adaptable commercial idiom capable of serving a wide spectrum of political and social agendas.

This dissertation examines how Kauffer’s use of modernist form enabled a distinctive visual plasticity, allowing his work to operate across ideological divides. The first chapter draws on Theodor Adorno’s critique of kitsch to trace the evolution of Kauffer’s style, positioning it within wider debates about cultural production and mass appeal. The second chapter builds on Roland Barthes’ theory of mythologies to argue that Kauffer’s early commercial designs articulated a first-order sign of modernity that could be appropriated by a range of institutions and causes, regardless of his personal affiliations.