Print Design: During the late 1800s, there was a spike in industrial production and food processing, this included foods such as “coffee, cocoa, and a range of meat and dairy products”. The explosion of commercial companies led to competitive market advertising and the establishment of “brand Identities”. Leading to decorative illustrations placed on boxes, cans, and other grocery items to attract a potential customer. Hired in 1887, Henry Van de Velde designed the outside of a protein extract by the company Tropon. This particular piece is considered one of his more famous works because it represents Henry’s transition from realism to more abstract forms, starting the development of the art nouveau style. To compensate for the blandness of the product itself, Henry took a “ highly stylized approach to the project” highlighting the name of the product with small lines that form abstract shapes around the title which created visual interest and drew attention to the title of the product itself. Henry clashed this small detail with large bold lines that continued to emphasize the detail within the art piece.  He managed a cohesive and balanced piece despite the small size of the advertisement (325 × 210 mm). His artistic approach to the advertisement promoted the selling of the product by creating visual appeal.,  This caused customers to want to buy the product whether or not they needed it. To create the piece, Henry created hand engraving to create a colored lithograph on thick buff wove paper. The advertisement itself is an example of true art Nouveau with organic curves and lines emphasized with abstract structured shapes for embellishment. Henry used limited, but bold colors such as yellow and white, to represent the egg white and yoke that was used to create the protein. He accented the bold colors with “tapering, frenetic lines that melt and stretch across the poster, one of his only attempts within the piece allude to the egg-based protein itself” as well as the companies sparrow logo, using organic shapes associated with the art Nouveau style (Victoria and Albert Museum). 

 

 

Citations 

Museum, V. (n.d.). Tropon: Van De velde, Henri: V&A explore the collections. Retrieved February 09, 2021, from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74080/tropon-poster-velde-henry-van/tropon-poster-van-de-velde/

Meissen porcelain Factory, Henry Van DE velde: PORCELAIN Sauce Boat (circa 1903). (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2021, from https://www.artsy.net/artwork/meissen-porcelain-factory-porcelain-sauce-boat

Image resource

[Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/aa/36/12/aa3612458bc6ce718dce05416072bb26.jpg