- Dada: In favor of irrationality
- Constructivist: Reds, blacks, and bold diagonals
- Bauhaus: Simple shapes and primary colors
- Wartime Poster: Dig deep for victory
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Wartime Poster: Dig deep for victory
The Brief
Create an Art Deco–inspired type treatment
Trim Size
Tabloid/A3
Learning Points
Choosing type
Working with gradients
Working with Photoshop layer styles
Tools
Illustrator, Photoshop
Fonts Used
Mostra Nuova
Inspiration
Art Deco flourished as the reigning international style from the 1920s, well into the 1940s. But was it really that big a deal? Two words in answer to that question: Chrysler Building. ’Nuff said. But you can see its influence across a wide range of design items, from letterforms and manhole covers to the Golden Gate Bridge. Its calling cards are sleek, symmetrical forms and a sense of opulence and luxury.
In its typographic contributions, Art Deco shines. The letterforms are geometric, built on perfect circles and straight lines, but the shapes always have surprising details that show the eye of a clever designer. Sure, sometimes we see that style and think “Great Gatsby.” But last we checked, that’s one of the great novels of all time. We think Art Deco fonts are great for wedding invites and anything that wants to project elegance and power.
Create the frame
Starting out in Illustrator, on a template layer, we placed an image of the entrance to New York’s Chrysler Building. On a layer above the template layer, we traced the lines of the image with the Pen tool and the Polygon tool to draw the triangles.
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Convert the tracing image to a template layer, which locks the layer and dims its opacity ().
A series of triangles and horizontal lines are drawn on a layer above (
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Add the type
For the type, we chose Mostra Nuova, a typeface designed by Mark Simonson and inspired by Italian Art Deco. It’s available in a variety of weights and comes with a range of alternate characters that allow us to add customizations and decorative flare.
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