"Normandie" - Cassandre

Cards (13)

  • 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