The state-run Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia controlled all aspects of artistic life, right down to the distribution of paint brushes. Under orders from the Soviet state, they turned art into a production line in the service of a promised Socialist utopia.

First, artists created rough sketches. The sketches were then passed to technicians who cut out stencils of each design. Depending on the number of colours in each poster, between 12 and 65 stencils were used. An assembly line of workers would then place each stencil on the paper, add a layer of colour, before it was passed to the next worker on the production line. Most sketches and stencils were thrown out after the poster was created. The ones that survive today are rare, and highly sought after.