In my travels as an active procrastinator, I came across this rifle maintenance manual from the 1960s. Now, I know, as a member of the female species, that I should be pissed about the insane amount of objectification of women in this manual. BUT, aside from making reference to the female body as the various parts of a rifle, the manual does have some good tips for its users:-respect her and treat her right, and she'll be ready when you need her
-get to know her needs and whims, know what makes her tick
-be gentle, and know that your life depends on her
Yep. That's right. From the US Army's M-16 Rifle Manual, Treat Your Rifle Like a Lady, circa 1969. Who knew they were so sensitive?
And since this is a design blog...
The manual's art was done by Will Eisner, a prolific giant in the world of sequential art (he was the first to coin the term "sequential art" in reference to comics and graphic novels, actually). Eisner was also one of the first artists to start moving comics away from "the funnies" and did some of the first adult-oriented graphic novels in the 1970s.
The real beauty of this manual, however, is its incredibly simple hierarchy and instructional graphics. The manual is easy to read (I feel like I'd be comfortable stripping my M-16) and the graphics are clear without any chartjunk (keeping in mind that this is a comic)--and this was before Tufte! And, of course, the genius of the medium. Creating this manual in the form of a comic was an incredibly smart move when considering the target audience, a slew of boys and men, probably 18-25, in 1960s US.
See the whole manual here.
[image source: http://www.ep.tc/problems/25/02.html]
1 comment:
Huh.
So many helpful tips on how to keep my rifle ready to fire at all times!
And I've learned what I've been doing wrong with the ladies all this time, too! The problem was that they just weren't clean enough. :(
(I couldn't help but comment. I won't be upset if you delete this :D)
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