Cassandre Project Update 2

Since my last project update, I have altered the design of the pages, continued researching and colllecting images, and located good links to include in the reference/links page.

The new design of the home page is based on the same Cassandre poster as my first idea, but is a little more abstract in its representation of it than the first design. First of all, I changed the layout from a primarily vertical to a horizontal orientation in order to create a design that fits onto the computer screen eliminating the need to scroll to view all content located on the screen. I have also changed the heading to a more Art Deco typeface in order to emphasize Cassandre's involvement with Art Deco.

Instead of trying to show a literal interpretation of one of his works as I tried to do in the first design, I decided to go with a design that is still based on one of his Nord Express posters, just done in a way that is a more abstract and implied representation. I thought having the more basic backdrop would make it possible to incorporate the text onto the page without making the piece too chaotic. Form the home page, I incorporated the navigation into the page by arranging the text according to the lines of perspective in the piece, which continues the idea of movement and forward motion that is such an important element in Cassandre's poster. I also kept the same color scheme as my original design, although it is not the color scheme of his original poster which used red instead of yellow as the accent color (I don’t know that I have a good explanation as to why I used yellow instead of red except that I like it better).

The design for most of the pages linked to the home page is a variation of the home design, incorporating the same elements except for the black “train.” The other difference is that the linked pages are vertical in orientation, yet the same width as the home page. I thought this would work nicely due to the large amounts of text that these other pages will contain. The gallery page will vertically list the images and analysis and may also include a linked page where the viewer can scroll through zoomed versions of the images in a horizontal format (see example at http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/images/modernism/cassandre.html). The timeline will be similar to the gallery in that the information will be vertically listed, yet will be linked to a page that lists the information horizontally.