"Normandie" - Cassandre

• Function

  • Travel poster to promote trans-Atlantic cruise ship
  • Know this as destinations are clearly positioned at the bottom of the poster making it clear that the ship would be sailing from France to New York
• Function

  • Promote first voyage of the Normandie cruise ship - largest ship afloat at it's time during the machine age
• Fitness for purpose

  • Fit for purpose, as very eye-catching, due to striking imagery, and text
  • Image of text draws viewer's attention, in turn leads to text at bottom, containing all relevant info, such as, company name, and ship's destinations
• Fitness for purpose

  • Fit for purpose of being a travel poster, as imagery is relevant, and reflected in design
  • Striking and eye-catching, making it work well as a travel advert
• Materials and/or techniques

  • Used stencils and airbrush for creating his posters
  • Black ink rolled over the stone/metal plate, then pressed onto paper for image reproduction
  • Colour was added by painting with watercolours
  • Used additional printing stones to apply coloured inks to selected parts of the image
• Materials and/or techniques

  • Time-consuming production as initial print involved lithography process
  • Colour addition after main print contributed to overall time required
  • Adding colour post-lithography likely increased production costs
  • Each poster printed by hand, contributing to labour-intensive production
• Target market/audience

  • Aimed at people with interest in boat travel
  • Specifically targeted those considering overseas travel
  • Intended for those who were indifferent to traditional advertising methods
  • Believed in creating designs understandable by the common man
  • Viewed poster design as a solution to technical and commercial challenges
• Target market/audience

  • Aimed at the middle-class, who could afford stylish and luxurious travel experiences
  • Type of cruise would've been expensive and luxurious at the time
• Visual Impact

  • ​​Has most visual impact due to the main image of ship taking up the majority of space
  • Creates focal point drawing the viewer's attention, making it work well as an advert.
• Visual Impact

  • Has most visual impact because of striking monochromatic tones of the ship 
  • Combined with the use of the graded cool blues, and greens, contrasting with the red creating a bold visual impact
• Style

  • Cassandre's posters often in Art Deco
  • Recognised by bold geometric shapes, sense of movement, theme of speed and machine
  • Though Art Deco was a decorative style of art/design, would've looked very modern and simple at the time
  • Would've stood out, and very fashionable due to influence from Art Deco
• Two influences - Cubism:

  • Used strong, simple, geometric shapes, this modern approach appealed to Cassandre
  • Cassandre borrowed simplifying of forms, from the Cubists, which he used to precisely communicate messages with clear, eye-catching designs
• Two influences - Mechanical advances:

  • Many new developments in 20th century transport, these developments revolutionised travel.
  • Machine age inspired artists and designers to produce dynamic, streamlined designs
  • Cassandre’s posters celebrate luxurious transport, and modern machine technology of his day