The movement of "art deco" was obtained from the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industrial Modernes" which was held in Paris during 1925. Art deco visual motifs included geometric shapes, curves, Egyptian zigzags, sunbursts, lightning bolts, airbrushed ray bands, motion lines, aerodynamic and streamlined forms.
Influences:
Ekco Ad 65 Radio/Walls Coates (Great Britain 1934).
This radio design is based on "pure" geometric shapes.
Although art deco was considered an 'early modern' style, there was no political beliefs associated with such movement. Where other modern movements stayed on the fringe, art deco gained popular acceptance.
Wilton Royal Rug/Marion Dorn (Great Britain 1932).
This rug design uses both geometry and parallel lines to evoke the art deco look.
The art deco look represented luxury, extravagance, glamour, glory of the machine-age culture, high speed travel, and consumerism.
Movie Theatre, Los Angeles CA/S. Charles Les/ (USA 1939).
Many movie theatres were built in the art deco style. Also Miami Beach is famous for its well-preserved art deco buildings.
New York Central Locomotive/ Henry Dreyfuss (USA 1938).
Faith in the machine and technology was at an all-time high. The pursuit of ever increasing speed became an end in itself. The scientific principle of aerodynamics was used to increase the speed of everything from airplanes to trains. Later, these streamlined shapes began to appear in everything from cameras to refrigerators.
Poste/ Shoes/ Ernst Deutsch (Germany 1912).
The simplicity of plakatstil art also influenced the art deco look.
Influential Designers:
A.M. Cassandre was the most influen-tial designer of the art deco era. His advertising posters and type designs helped define the art deco glance.
Cassandre's first large poster design for "The Woodcutter" department store was 12 feet wide. His airbrushed ray band motif became a major influence on the look of art deco graphics.
Cassandre always began with the text and choice of typography (which he often invented). His illustrations are always based on geometric shapes and symbols. He often reduced his subjects to silhouettes.
Cassandre believed in the total integration of word and image. This is perhaps his single most important contribution to graphic design.
His illustrations helped romanticise the appeal of motor car, locomotive and ocean liner.
Cassandre was a genius at promoting the illusion of progress. Instead of promoting things, he sold ideas using motion and action.
His bold simple designs and large planes of colour emphasized the 2D aspect of such poster.
He was also influenced by the Cubists. In particular Cassandre conferred an aesthetic status on everything he advertised.
This was a surprising use of ghosted and overlapping type. Note the use of Futura fort.
During his career Cassandre designed several hundred posters. He took his own life in 1968. And a letter of rejection for a new typeface design was found on his desk.
Cassandre's raybands and geometric type makes its way to America. In America, "art deco" was sometimes referred to as "art moderne," "jazz style" or "streamline style".
Sophisticated elegance depicted with flat shapes of colour and reduced detail.
Geometric type, airbrushed suface and simplified shapes are used in such poster; Reno (Switzerland 1932).
Poster like this helped sell the idea of modernism as being "cool."
Graphic designers helped "invent" the modern lifestyle with images as shown above. It is actually a, magazine cover of Vogue by Eduardo Benito done in USA during 1930.
Trademarks:
Logos in the art deco era often contained angular geometric shapes.
Trademark/Dresses Shit Undermwear (USA 1925).
Geometric type and simplified silhouetted illustration.
Machine-age romanticism with an architectural twist.
Type in geometric shape and the simplest human figure possible.
Cassandre's definitive art deco type: geometric shapes and speed lines.
An unusual attempt at using geometric abstraction in a serif font.
This very popular art deco font is often misused today.
Another popular geometric typeface design with a tough of heroic realism.
Retro:
A contemporary design attempts to bring the industrial symbols of the 1930s.
Simplified shapes based on geometry that evokes the art deco period.
Such poster uses gradients, geometric shapes, bands of light and typography work together to evoke the art deco look.
This promotional poster uses art deco illustration styles to evoke a evocative and romantic view of the travel industry.
An updating of the Cassandre style used ironically to promote a 3D animated movie.
Reference
Elif Ayiter, N/A. The History of Visual Communication. [online] Available at: <http://www.citrinit as.com/history_of_viscom/index.html> [Accessed November 2013].
Livingston, A. I., 2003. Graphic Design and Designers. London: The Thames & Hudson.
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