#tonightmatthew

I finished my book cover! Here it is...

I’ve made a few basic thumbnails of my ideas for the 1984 book jacket (in the style of designer AM Cassandre). I have tried to use  bold, dynamic shapes and similar tones to Cassandre’s work, whilst incorporating the all-seeing-eye motif relevent to the novel. 

The book I will be designing a cover for is 1984, which has a recurring theme of surveillance and privacy (or lack of) with eyes being a motif in many other posters or covers for the novel and movie. I found a piece of work by Cassandre from his period in the 1930s where he did some surreal designs for Harper’s Bazaar. This one in particular features a collage of eyes. This has inspired the design of my book cover. Here are some eyes I have created based on Cassandre’s design.

Cassandre, pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron (24 January 1901 – 17 June 1968) was a French painter, commercial poster artist, and typeface designer. 

He was born Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron in Kharkiv, Ukraine,  to French parents. As a young man, Cassandre moved to Paris, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian. The popularity of posters as advertising afforded him an opportunity to work for a Parisian printing house. Inspired by cubism as well as surrealism, he earned a reputation with works such as Bûcheron (Woodcutter), a poster created for a cabinetmaker that won first prize at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

Cassandre became successful enough that with the help of partners he was able to set up his own advertising agency called Alliance Graphique, serving a wide variety of clients during the 1930s. He is perhaps best known for his posters advertising travel, for clients such as the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

His creations for the Dubonnet wine company were among the first posters designed in a manner that allowed them to be seen by occupants in moving vehicles. His posters are memorable for their innovative graphic solutions and their frequent denotations to such painters as Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso. In addition, he taught graphic design at the École des Arts Décoratifs and then at the École d'Art Graphique.

With typography an important part of poster design, the company created several new typeface styles. Cassandre developed Bifur in 1929, the sans serif Acier Noir in 1935, and in 1937 an all-purpose font called Peignot. In 1936, his works were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City which led to commissions from Harper's Bazaar to do cover designs.