After leaving the Royal College of Art, Cliff Rowe (1904-1989) worked for the Communist Party designing their publications. Rowe then spent 18 months in the Soviet Union as a designer, returning to Britain in the early 1930s. In 1933 he became a founding member of the AIA (Artists' International Association) which was an influential collective of left-wing artists. After the war, Rowe's work included commissions from the Atlee Labour government and trade unions; his Tolpuddle Martyrs and General Strike murals as commissioned by the Electrical Trades Union are probably his most famous works.

This Dead End poster dates from the film's 1944 re-release. Very few of these were printed, and not many have survived due to war time paper shortages. War time austerity also limited the poster to three colours only.