Art Deco Poster Analysis

Art Deco, one of the most influential decorative styles of the early twentieth century, debuted in Paris, France in 1920 . This style, socialistic in content and abstract in form, was not recognised as a distinct art movement up until the sixties. Even today, many art historians argue about the exclusiveness of this style, however, it was not an insubstantial movement and greatly influenced the fashion, architecture, jewellery, furniture, filmography and visual and decorative arts around the world in the twentieth century. This movement was at its peak during the period between the two World Wars as it was a break from the devastation of the war and by capturing the hopes, it served as a source of inspiration for better times ahead.

Art Deco

The typefaces used in this poster are inspired by the Bauhaus style and emphasize strength and boldness. His use of stream lined geometric shapes, to depict the factory and the wheel, the three way colour scheme, impressions of speed depicted by the lightning bolt show the influence of Futurism. The use of Black, Blue and Orange was intentional so that it could catch the eye of the passing passengers. The repeated lines in the wheel and arm convey a sense of motion. Kauffer has given the poster an industrial feel by overlapping the factory, wheel and the arm and placing it close to the text. It seems as if all the graphics on the poster are working together as the components of a machine. The composition of the poster and the layout of the images allow the eye of the viewer to move around the poster in a circular motion, starting from the upper right corner then left, curving down right and finally resting on the word

With the shift to machine based production from manual labour, architects stated designing tall buildings to house more people, more machines and hence, more activities. Many people believed that the tall structures would be ideal for a growing population. Kauffer disagreed and was worried that soon buildings and machines would replace people. He responded with this poster in 1926 by showing what future towns and cities may look like.

Unlike in the text of ‘Reigate’, Kauffer has integrated the text of Metropolis with imagery. The firmness, fragility and speed of the text work together furthering the poster’s message. Kauffer allows the viewer’s eye to move around the ‘Power, the nerve centre of London’s Underground’ poster in a fluid motion. In ‘Metropolis’, he makes the eye move diagonally from top left corner to bottom right. The downward leading ‘T’ from the top 3 letters makes the eye move downwards to the centre of the poster. The next four letters of the word are placed diagonally, leading the eye to the last 3 letters of the