How To Make Your Poster Look "Art Deco or Retro"

Many have asked how to make their poster more like the posters of the WPA time period.  In order to accomplish that, you want to first look at the original posters.
What do they have in common?  They were all silk screened!  This is an important factor to think about, and affected the style of the posters.

Specifically:

1. There is a limited color palette, usually only 4 colors are used-and they are not bright colors.  If you are struggling with a color palette, use the colors from one of the posters, and simply use the eyedropper tool to capture the colors. 
2. All of the images on the poster are streamlined or simplified-think of silhouettes, almost cartoony images.  (A perfect time to use your pen tool skills or the live trace option!)
3. Typography-this is where many people struggle.  The posters use a maximum of only 3 typefaces, mostly all CAPS and sans serif typefaces.  There is some use of script type, too.  These are the sites that I have found that have had some appropriate typefaces-however, some are just awful too:

• dafont - look at their Retro section as well as the Script section, especially the Handwritten and School sections. 
• free typography
• font river

Part of this assignment is just really looking at the WPA FAP posters and trying to hone their style, so when in doubt, look at the originals for inspiration and direction.