E.M. CASSANDRE: HISTORICL FIGURE ESSAY AND INFOGRAPHIC

SKILLS | Data Visualization | Information Architecture | Research | Graphic Design | Typography |

CLIENT: Academic
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THE CHALLENGE
Research a historical figure in the design arena. Write an essay on this individual, highlighting the contributions they made to the world of information design. Translate this material into an infographic that summarizes this person’s life. In short, what is this person’s story?

THE SOLUTION
I composed an essay about Cassandre’s life and how his ideas impacted information design. I summarized the significant points of the essay and transformed them into the main focal points of the infographic.

THE OUTCOME
An infographic was developed to tell the story of Cassandre, by showing many samples of his work over several decades. The significance of Cassandre’s work can be seen by the sheer volume of work, as well as the range of diverse areas he stepped into with his graphic illustrations and layouts.

I analyzed Cassandre’s work, and rated it as to the type of work completed, for example, fashion magazine covers. This created a visualization that told Cassandre’s story over time.

The data from the analysis was then correlated with the timeframe when the work was completed. The result shows a clear change in focus, coinciding with the years of World War II. This data visualization clearly presents how Cassandre’s life and work were affected by the war.

Although the project mandate was to create an 11x17 poster, an ulterior intent of this infographic was to be presented as an outdoor billboard, because that is representative of the type of work that began Cassandre’s career. This significant because he was thinking in terms of how large format graphics worked differently than smaller ones to engage the public’s interest.

I determined that the founding feature of the infographic was the text that winds its way along the entire graphic, which was a quote from Cassandre that also describes much of the concept of information design itself.

I conducted research into the life of E.M. Cassandre, a French painter, commercial poster artist and typeface designer who worked in Paris in the 1920’s up until the late 1960’s. Much of Cassandre’s work is recognizable today, as it has a distinct flair, as can be seen in classic Dubonnet ads, art-deco-like travel posters, and many Harper’s Bazaar cover designs.

The large image of the stereo was chosen to represent all of Cassandre’s work because it embodied the art-deco strengths of his overall body of work, and incorporated the simplicity of design that he promoted, as well as the cultural aspect of the music it represented.
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DUBONNET S'IL VOUS PLAIT ?
I had a hard time at first trying to grasp the essence of Cassandre’s world. To fix this, I spent time watching actual old video footage from Paris, which helped set the mood for the essay, and in turn the infographic.
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