Art Deco

Part of Chapter 14 goes into detail about art deco, which took place in the early 1900's.  It is similar to art nouveau and was influenced by cubism, the Bauhaus and the Vienna Secession, along with random references such as Egyptian, Aztecs and De Stijl.  Art Deco can be described as very geometric, decorative, zigzag and slightly modern.  There is usually a lot of layers with bright, bold colors. A very popular font during this art period is Bifur, which is very blocky and heavy.  It contains no serifs and isn't the most attractive thing to look at.  Another font that emerged was Peignot, which was an attempt to 'revolutionize' the roman alphabet.  One thing that really stands out for me with this typeface is the ascenders and descenders because they stand out greatly and are unique in comparison to earlier fonts.  Jean Carlu realized that by adding expressed lines and angles, tension and alertness would come from it.  By creating curves, the feeling of comfort and relaxation arose.  For some reason, I feel this was already understood and experimented with, but Megg gives him some credit. 

I think it's interesting that our eye reads what isn't in front of us, but what we feel should be read.  On page 282, A.M. Cassandre's Bifur typeface is put into effect but half of the letters are missing.  Even though they are missing, we can still read them and understand their meanings.  

I'm curious.  What is the difference between the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of Design in Chicago?  According to later chapters, the Institute of Design wasn't formed until after the Bauhau crumbled, which was in 1933.  And the Art Institute was mentioned in this chapter when Edward Kauffer traveled to Chicago and studied there.