Ontwerp voor een affiche met namen van bedrijven in ornamentale rand 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this poster design with ink and graphite, it looks like he's working out how to fit a lot of information into a small space, a real design problem! The ornament is like a puzzle, each leaf and curve carefully placed, but it's the grid underneath that really gets me going. You can see the ghost of it, and it makes me think about the hidden structures that hold up all kinds of images, paintings, and even thoughts. It's like the scaffolding that allows the ornament to take shape. Look at the way the ink pools in some areas, creating darker, more intense blacks, versus the lighter, grayer washes. It's this contrast that gives the design its depth and texture. For me, it’s like the way Mondrian was thinking about ornament – a distilled essence, both decorative and deeply structural. So, what does ornament mean to you?