Robert Massin
Encyclopedia
Robert Massin is a French
graphic designer
, art director
and typographer who is notable for his innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. Massin stopped using his first name in the 1950s.
department in north-central France. He began working as a designer following World War II. Massin's immediate influence in the 1950s was innovative French book designer Pierre Faucheux. Faucheaux emphasized the idea that each new book should be a new object determined by type choice, proportion and déroulement, the development of a visual concept over several pages. Faucheaux also emphasized the idea that the choice of typeface should have some relationship to the meaning of the text. These ideas are apparent in much of Massin's most famous work.
For over twenty years Massin acted as art director of Éditions Gallimard
, one of the leading French publishers of books. An early, important work for Massin at Gallimard was his 1963 design for Raymond Queneau
's Exercices de style
, a book of 99 retellings of the same story, each presented different graphically. Another famous design appeared in 1964 in Massin's graphic interpretation of Eugène Ionesco
's play, La Cantatrice chauve
(translated as The Bald Prima Donna or The Bald Soprano
). The book was a major work of expressive typography, presenting the dialogue of a single play through hundreds of pages of innovative graphic compositions. Massin not only used mixtures of typefaces and new compositional methods to present dialogue, he also formally manipulated dialogue by stretching and bending.
In addition to a large body of visual work, Massin also wrote several books including La Lettre et l'Image (Letter and Image). (His entry in the French Wikipedia presents a more thorough bibliography.) Writing in Eye magazine in a review of a book on Massin, Jan Middendorp credited La Cantatrice and La Lettre et l'Image as follows: "These two masterpieces of typographic eccentricity became hot items among designers and art directors on both sides of the Atlantic, and were especially influential in America, where they helped trigger the post-functionalist approach of graphic design that eventually culminated in the eclecticism of the late 1980s and 1990s." http://www.eyemagazine.com/review.php?id=151&rid=720&set=782
A 2007 major monograph of his work, Massin, written by Laetitia Wolff and published by Phaidon
, was the first Massin monograph to appear in English. http://www.phaidon.com/Default.aspx/Web/massin-9780714848112
Notable books written by Massin:
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
and typographer who is notable for his innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. Massin stopped using his first name in the 1950s.
Biography
Massin was born in 1925 in Bourdinière-Saint-Loup, a commune in the Eure-et-LoirEure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.-History:Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789...
department in north-central France. He began working as a designer following World War II. Massin's immediate influence in the 1950s was innovative French book designer Pierre Faucheux. Faucheaux emphasized the idea that each new book should be a new object determined by type choice, proportion and déroulement, the development of a visual concept over several pages. Faucheaux also emphasized the idea that the choice of typeface should have some relationship to the meaning of the text. These ideas are apparent in much of Massin's most famous work.
For over twenty years Massin acted as art director of Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard is one of the leading French publishers of books. The Guardian has described it as having "the best backlist in the world". In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1418 titles....
, one of the leading French publishers of books. An early, important work for Massin at Gallimard was his 1963 design for Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
's Exercices de style
Exercises in Style
Exercises in Style , written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style. In each, the narrator gets on the "S" bus Exercises in Style , written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style....
, a book of 99 retellings of the same story, each presented different graphically. Another famous design appeared in 1964 in Massin's graphic interpretation of Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
's play, La Cantatrice chauve
The Bald Soprano
La Cantatrice Chauve — translated from French as The Bald Soprano or The Bald Prima Donna — is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on May 11, 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules, Paris...
(translated as The Bald Prima Donna or The Bald Soprano
The Bald Soprano
La Cantatrice Chauve — translated from French as The Bald Soprano or The Bald Prima Donna — is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on May 11, 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules, Paris...
). The book was a major work of expressive typography, presenting the dialogue of a single play through hundreds of pages of innovative graphic compositions. Massin not only used mixtures of typefaces and new compositional methods to present dialogue, he also formally manipulated dialogue by stretching and bending.
In addition to a large body of visual work, Massin also wrote several books including La Lettre et l'Image (Letter and Image). (His entry in the French Wikipedia presents a more thorough bibliography.) Writing in Eye magazine in a review of a book on Massin, Jan Middendorp credited La Cantatrice and La Lettre et l'Image as follows: "These two masterpieces of typographic eccentricity became hot items among designers and art directors on both sides of the Atlantic, and were especially influential in America, where they helped trigger the post-functionalist approach of graphic design that eventually culminated in the eclecticism of the late 1980s and 1990s." http://www.eyemagazine.com/review.php?id=151&rid=720&set=782
A 2007 major monograph of his work, Massin, written by Laetitia Wolff and published by Phaidon
Phaidon
Phaidon is an ancient Greek name that may refer to:*Phaedo of Elis, a philosopher*Phaedo, one of Plato's dialogues named after Phaedo of Elis who appears in it*Phaidon Press, a publisher...
, was the first Massin monograph to appear in English. http://www.phaidon.com/Default.aspx/Web/massin-9780714848112
Work
Notable books designed by Massin:- Exercices de styleExercises in StyleExercises in Style , written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style. In each, the narrator gets on the "S" bus Exercises in Style , written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style....
, by Raymond QueneauRaymond QueneauRaymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...
, Gallimard, 1963. - La Cantatrice chauveThe Bald SopranoLa Cantatrice Chauve — translated from French as The Bald Soprano or The Bald Prima Donna — is the first play written by Franco-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. Nicolas Bataille directed the premiere on May 11, 1950 at the Théâtre des Noctambules, Paris...
, by Eugène IonescoEugène IonescoEugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
, Gallimard, 1964. - Délire à deux, by Eugène IonescoEugène IonescoEugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
, Gallimard, 1966. - Conversation-sinfonietta, by Jean TardieuJean TardieuJean Tardieu was a French artist, musician, poet and dramatic author. He earned a degree in literature and worked for a publishing house. He published several poetry collections in the 1930s before starting to write for the stage...
, Gallimard, 1966. - Les Mariés de la tour Eiffel, by Jean CocteauJean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Hoëbeke, begun in 1966 and published in 1994.
Notable books written by Massin:
- La Lettre et l'Image, Gallimard, 1970.