HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION DESIGN CASE STUDY TIFFANY VEDUA
WHAT IS ART
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DECO?
hough mainly an American style, Art Deco was first The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. In 1925, the seven-month exhibition displayed luxuries such as perfumes or ornate architecture, and it exuded an authority of the French. All forms of luxury were able to be presented; however, nothing was allowed to be reminiscent of the past.
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ollowing the aftermath of the first World War and entering into the era of the Great Depression, the United States seemed to be heading downhill. The Art Deco movement instilled hope in the minds of America: it promoted progress, moving forward—that the state of the economy can return back to how it was before the Stock Market Crash.
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till keeping the promise of moving forward, the Art Deco movement drew influences from Neoclassicist, Cubist, Modernist, Constructivist, and
Futurist styles (Drucker & McVarish, 2013, pp. 206-207). The Art Deco aesthetic was in complete opposition to the asymmetric, organic lines of Art Nouveau, which occurred before World War I. America’s desire for a fresh, new start paralleled the sudden rise of a minimal elegance.
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urals of this era were painted with subliminal motivational messages. Bold, contrasting colors reflected the sense of passion and power that would be needed to bring America back up (History of American Art Deco, n.d.). It was hoped that the vibrancy would remind people to work towards achieving the American Dream, to fantasize about over the luxurious lifestyles they could one day have (Drucker & McVarish, 2013, pp. 206-207).
Illustration by Tiffany Vedua
Bevis Hillier shortened the name of the styles at The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes to “Art Deco” in 1968 (Art Deco: Introduction to an Art Movement, n.d.).
Bevis Hillier Photo courtesy of Chris Regrave
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dolphe Jean-Marie Mouron (A.M. Cassandre) was a Ukranian-French painter and graphic designer whose work is “synonymous with 1920’s and 1930’s popular culture” (Drucker & McVarish, 2013, pp. 204, 218). While his parents were French, he was born in Kharkov, Ukraine. His family moved several times between Russia and France, but eventually settled in Paris in 1915. There, he would attend schools such as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian.
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hen it was time for Mouron to no longer receive the financial support of his parents, he started designing posters. At this point, his inspirations were drawn from the Bauhaus styles of Germany. It was not until 1922 that he immigrated to Paris, opened a studio of his own, and took on the name Cassandre. The following year, Cassandre had debuted as being a widely recognized designer with his Au Bucheron poster. The design earned first place in France’s Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Mouron, 1984).
to reference his hope that one day, the modern world would run “smoothly” and without struggle (Drucker & McVarish, 2013, pp. 218).
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assandre was a prolific man: with his design career, graphic advertising studio, and job as a teacher at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs, he was in high demand throughout the country. In 1933, Louis Jouvet, a significant authority figure of theater in the 20th century, hired Cassandre to paint posters for his productions. A few years later, he was contracted by Harper’s Bazaar to design magazine covers. Throughout his life, A.M. Cassandre had not only collaborated on posters, advertisements, but also established his own typefaces. Some of these fonts included Peignot, Acier Noir, and Bifur. Before his suicide in 1968, he had been developing his final typeface, Cassandre. Its intended use was for photocomposition, but he had passed before it was ever published (Mouron, 1984).
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n 1927, he began looking into the incorporation of space and speed of modern life into his works. The Express Nord poster (right) uses a gradient to suggest that the train is accelerating quickly, just as humans are beginning to transport themselves faster and faster with the development of new, modern technology (Mouron, 2000-2014). To make these gradients, he used an airbrush technique; the methods he utilized were precisely done to look as if the coloration had been done by a machine. In addition to depicting fast movement, Cassandre wanted the effect to appear smooth,
Nord Express, 1927 Photo courtesy of Fine Art America
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he linear and geometric aspects of Art Deco were also brought into architecture. William van Alen designed the staggered, radiating sunbursts of the Chrysler Building in New York because Walter P. Chrysler had wanted to restore public faith that the economy would rebound. Chrysler wanted to construct the tallest office building in New York, and remind the people to maintain patriotism. Each detail of the skyscraper’s design was considered when finding ways to incorporate the Art Deco ideals. The top portion of the Chrysler Building was coated with a stainless steel finish to reference the uprising of the automobile industry. While many would call the
INFLUENCE ON ARCHITECTURE spiky pattern a sunburst, others say that it is in fact a representation of spokes on a wheel. Rather than including gargoyles, as many structures had done prior, van Alen designed eagles as a symbol of the United States. Walter P. Chrysler and William van Alen were temporarily successful at being the minds behind the tallest structure in New York—that is, until the Empire State Building began construcition (The Chrysler Building, pp. 68-69).
INFLUENCE ON FurNiTurE
Keystone Art Deco Bed Photo courtesy of Custom Made - JL Furniture
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Illustration by Tiffany Vedua
n the 30’s, the straight, angular look of Art Deco began to shift toward soft curvature—especially in furniture. Still, some of the details from the decade’s architecture were evident in armchairs, mirrors, etc. For example, this bed, made by Joel Liebman, is inspired by the stepped spires of skyscrapers, similar to that of the Chrysler building. In combination with the curved lines of the headboard, the straight, perpendicular lines of the rest of the bed frame display provides a sense of the nationalism and unity of Depression era America (History of American Art Deco, n.d.).
Illustration by Tiffany Vedua
WHY ART DECO?
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he rich color, geometric shapes, and linear symmetry of Art Deco are similar to my own design style. My design software of choice is Adobe Illustrator; it is in this program that I am able to recreate the styles of Art Deco, with flattened layers and linear forms. Before conducting research about the
history behind this movement, I had simply found the streamlined aesthetic to be visually pleasing, but learning about the strive for success and the symbols of nationalism associated with works of this time provides more reason to enjoy Art Deco designs.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Drucker, J., & McVarish, E. (2013). Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide. Consumerism absorbed the formal lessons of the avant-garde (pp. 206-207). United States of America: Pearson. Goss, J. (2010). French Art Deco. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www. metmuseum.org/toah/hd/frdc/hd_frdc.htm Mouron, H. (1984). Biographical Note about A.M. Cassandre. Schirmer / Mosel Production. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.cassandre- france.com/ amcassandre/biographical-note.html Mouron, R. (2000-2014) Biography. Cassandre. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http:// www.cassandre-france.com/amcassandre/biography.html n.a. (n.d.) Art Deco: Introduction to an Art Movement. ArtHistory.net. Bitter Soup LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.arthistory.net/artstyles/artdeco/ artdeco1.html n.a. (n.d.) The Chrysler Building 1926-1930 (pp. 68-69). United States of America: National Endowment for the Humanities. n.a. (n.d.) History of American Art Deco. Bryn Mawr College/Philadelphia, PA: Bryn Mawr College. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www. brynmawr.edu/cities/ archx/05-600/proj/p2/npk/historydeco.htm