Jacqueline S. Casey (20 April 1927 – 18 May 1992)
[ was a graphic designer best known for the posters she created for the ]Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT). While practicing a functional Modernism, Jacqueline S. Casey was a graphic designer in the Office of Publications (later retitled the Office of Design Services) from 1955 to 1989 and assigned the position as director in 1972. In discussing her design, Casey stated, "My work combines two cultures: The American interest in visual metaphor on the one hand, and the Swiss fascination with planning, fastidiousness, and control over technical execution on the other."
Background
Casey was born in 1927 in Quincy, Massachusetts. She studied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fashion design and illustration at the Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
(MassArt), graduating in 1949. After graduating, she had a number of jobs, including work in interior design and advertising,[ however she never obtained a job she was completely interested in; she stated, "I broke the negative cycle by traveling through Europe for three months" and came back "with the decision to focus my life on something related to the arts... to develop my visual sensitivity."]
MIT
The professional quality and creative additions to design are what made the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's campus design group widely respected in the field. MIT is acknowledged as the first American college to employ graphic designers as part of the faculty, and Jacqueline Casey was one of the few who were hired. The prototype for the university press at MIT was implemented by the graphic designers, known for their meticulous and straightforward style of their typography. Campus projects, programs, cultural and scientific events were advertised to society through the group designer's works.
In 1955, she was recruited by fellow MassArt alumna Muriel Cooper
Muriel Cooper (1925 – May 26, 1994) was a pioneering book designer, digital designer, researcher, and educator. She was the first design director of the MIT Press, instilling a Bauhaus-influenced design style into its many publications. She move ...
to work at the Office of Publications at MIT. In 1972, Casey became Director, taking over this position as her colleague joined the MIT faculty. The two women were among the few working at this professional level at MIT of the time.International Typographic Style
The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 1920s and was further developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950s. The Internati ...
recently developed in Switzerland, particularly designers such as Karl Gerstner, Armin Hofmann
Armin Hofmann ( HonRDI) (29 June 1920 – 18 December 2020) was a Swiss graphic designer.
He began his career in 1947 as a teacher at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel School of Art and Crafts at the age of twenty-six. Hofmann followed Emil Ru ...
and Josef Müller-Brockmann
Josef Müller-Brockmann (9 May 1914 – 30 August 1996) was a Swiss graphic designer, author, and educator, he was a Principal at Muller-Brockmann & Co. design firm. He was a pioneer of the International Typographic Style. Müller-Brockmann is re ...
.[
Casey's posters generally consisted of a striking image or bold typography, accompanied by informational details in smaller text. She often used typographic wordplay and ]visual pun
A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images (in addition to or instead of language), often based on a rebus.
Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in cartoons such as ''Lost Consonants'' or ''The Far ...
s in her work. Speaking of her designs in 1988, she said: "My job is to stop anyone I can with an arresting or puzzling image, and entice the viewer to read the message in small type and above all to attend the exhibition."[
As well as being used for promotion of on-campus events and in MIT publications, Casey's work was exhibited at MIT, the ]Chelsea School of Art
Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation.
It offers further and higher educat ...
in London, and the London College of Printing
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...
.[
Casey retired from her role as director in 1989, but continued to work as a visiting scholar at the ]MIT Media Laboratory
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...
.[
]
Legacy
Casey's work is held in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in New York, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Inst ...
.[
The ]MIT Museum
The MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, technology-related artworks, artificial intelligence, architecture, robotics, maritime histor ...
mounted an exhibition of Casey's graphic work in 1992, and again in 2012.Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...
has a collection of 99 posters, donated posthumously at the designer's request.
Works & Exhibitions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
''Give Blood''. 1983.
Awards and honors
Casey has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including:
Further reading
*''Posters: Jacqueline S. Casey, Thirty Years of Design at MIT''. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Museum, 1992.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Jacqueline
American graphic designers
Women graphic designers
1927 births
1992 deaths
Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology staff