Between a Car and a Hard Place: A Tragic but Impactful Fate
Jean Carlu was born into a family of architects in Bonnières, France in 1900. He intended to continue his family tradition and would have followed through with it—if it weren’t for a tragic road accident that resulted in him losing his right arm at the age of 18. Due to this incident, he turned to graphic and commercial arts, not knowing that he would be one of the biggest contributors to commercial art and poster designs.
Carlu found himself working for an advertising agency where he developed his love and style of angular forms and spatial nuances that were commonly associated with Cubism. His style was original in his time and could be characterized by his clever designs, along with his use of lithography, gouache, and repetitive imagery of hands—which could also be associated with how his accident had ultimately influenced his career.
Théâtre Pigalle, Feu Du Ciel, 1930 
A fundraiser for the blind, L’Obole Souscription Nationale, 1932 
Repaying Nature’s Riches, 1941 
Stop ‘Em to Sell ‘Em, 1947
A Call to Arms! Sorry–Arm?
I was instantly drawn towards his use of framing and his cleverness in integrating meaning and subtle messages in his designs. Design with instances like these is just so eye-catching and makes it interactive which really draws the viewer in, such as his posters for World War II. It was amazing to see how his designs, especially his America’s Answer! Production poster, were used in contribution to the war effort—which also won him a New York Art Directors Medal.
Eye of the Birdeholder
When I first saw his poster for Birds Custard, I already know that he had seamlessly integrated the bird with the eye. But the more I looked at it, the more I saw his use of subtle repetition. I was astounded when I saw that the bird’s body could be interpreted as a tittle of a lowercase ‘i’. The entire bird could even be seen as two lowercase i’s together as well.
It’s safe to say that Jean Carlu’s contribution to commercial art can really go down in history, along with his backstory to why he started his career in the first place and how he contributed in history. As one of the first graphic designers to recognize the value of clean lines, strong colours, and having a brand image in mind with the audience and public in mind, Carlu’s posters are powerful and communicative works of art and design. It without a doubt that he was one of the most influential designers during the interwar transatlantic design world.
Works Cited
“Jean Carlu.” GD 203, https://go.distance.ncsu.edu/gd203/?p=24902.
“Jean Carlu.” Jean Carlu | Biography | People | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/68738547/bio.
Logemann, Jan. “Jean Carlu.” Transatlantic Perspectives, German Historical Institute, 29 July 2018, https://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entries/jean-carlu/#:~:text=Jean%20Carlu%20was%20a%20renowned,agency%20from%201919%20to%201921.