Jacqueline Casey Woman in a Man’s World
“ Some of the most elegant posters Her sense of proportion is and measured, orga Joseph P. Ansell, chair of the Visual Arts Department at Otterbein College in Westerville
in America... at once percise nic and humane.” Jacqueline S.Casey’s work is probably the work you’ve never heard of. Her posters will ring a bell when you see them, but neither a name or face will register in your mind. It was at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she designed dozens upon dozens of posters to promote events for the college, from concerts, to seminars, and even CD releases. She was a woman in a man’s world, not only in the publications office, but also in the MIT community that served as her clientele. Even given her contributions, few people can put a finger on just who she is, as her work has been understandably swept under the carpet by that of her male collegues. Despite this, Casey is no doubt the foremost practitioner of the International Style. While men like Josef MullerBrockman have mastered the style, it is she who has unlocked its true potential as a design methodology.
Jacqueline Casey was born in Quincy, Mass. on April 20, 1927. She train d at MassArt for her degrees in fashion design and illustration, before moving on to work in advertisment, interior decoration and trade publication. Her talents were recognized by the Office of Publications at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1955, where she was placed in charge of designing posters for the college’s summer program. Casey worked alongside Muriel Cooper, the then Design Director. In her role as Director of Design Services, it was Casey’s job to publicize exhibtions organized by the MIT Committee on the Visual Arts. When Cooper left to join the MIT faculty in 1972, Casey took over as Design Director. Her work has been exhibited in one-woman shows at multiple venues, such as the MIT Hayden Corridor Gallery (1972. 1979. 1983, 1984), Cooper Union (1989) and MassArt (1989). She also gave lectures at multiple museums and schools. After 30 years of adorning the bland walls of MIT with her stunning, informative posters, Casey passed away in 1991.
The Moon Show, 1969
MIT Open House 4 13 74, 1974
�
M W y jo re hil b fu pre e M is a pe tur se IT c re rs e-o nts ha on re se on rie a s i sta an pre arc al a nta ll th ts r nt ty d se h t nd te at oo lea m pe ma nta he p d. is ts rni ac y o fac ter tiv su riva For exp in t ng be cu bje e m ial e o bje te m er rad ex un rat cti us s th f it ct . Be e d ime itio pe de e v ve t fi at . I so fo es nt n, rie rs isu is t th rel alw tha re ign al, the nce Ja to a to e at a t I s in e cq od l a d w e ys m ta g xc un . ue by nd esi ho to t try y w rt d is h itin ive lin e th ver gn le d he to ork es igh g a rsit C e b a e su us w ig ly nd y as au al pr sig b e il ni ey di m od n. jec co l b ng en es uc Q t l e ,I ce sa t w ui an our . ge it te d t s th h a sim he at n p ly, ca n
“
MI
IT The President’s and the Provost’s Ball in honor of the Academic Dean, 1981 The Seasons, 1983
Casey’s work is a blend of Swiss cleaness and Italian creativity. as well as being inspired by the modernist movement. She adopted the new Swiss typefaces Helvetica and Univers as her recurring fonts, combining typography with geometric forms and large planes of color. Her posters were riddled with methaphor, double meanings and witty humor. Her humor and playfulness adds the final dimension which elevates her from being a good designer to a great one. She was able to bring the imagination of her beautiful,
organic design to MIT, which is primarily known for its strides in science and technology. Given this, her work fit in perfectly with the university’s aesthetic. She demonstrates an accesible advance for the International Style, and it’s very unfortunate that with the re-animation of the movement, Casey’s work has nearly been entirel skipped over. In the American design scene, where agressive selfpromotion is valued before ability,
Goya: The Disasters of War, 1971
it comes to no surprise. In every one of Jacqueline Casey’s posters, there is a visual element that attracts the viewer and the text provides the information. She works at her best when she employs visual metaphors. One such example is her ‘Goya: The Disasters of War’ poster, where she uses a blood splat as her solitary image, where the interplay of verbal and visual ignites our imaginations and encourages a deeper understanding of its subject. Balance is also a key aspect in Casey’s work. A critical balance between visual and narrative form is made in each of her works which allows the viewer to not only engage with his or her own imagination, but with their understanding of the poster’s subject matter. Corners, 1979 Arts on the Line, 1980
Sources
Eye Magazine. “Eye Magazine | Feature | Woman at the edge of technology.” Eye Magazine. http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/ article/woman-at-the-edge-of-technology
MITnews. “Designer Jacqueline Casey Dies at 65 - MIT News Office.” MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://web.mit. edu/newsoffice/1992/casey-0520.html
Poulin, Richard . “Jacqueline Casey at MIT - RockPaperInk.com.” RockPaperInk: Inspiration, Ideas, & Opinions from Design Fanatics. http://rockpaperink.com/content/article.php?id=48
Designed by Frances Mahoney Printed and bound by Frances Mahoney Composed in Helvetica, typeface designed by Max Miedinger, 1957
Academic Honesy, 1984