Ontwerp voor een standaard c. 1905 - 1906

This is a sketch for a standard, made by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. I can imagine Cachet hovering over this page, pencil in hand, trying out different ideas for a standard. A standard! What a thing to design. It's like, what does it mean to hold something up? Is it about strength, or grace, or maybe even a bit of both? Look at the way he's played with different shapes and forms – the geometric precision of the criss-cross design versus the curvy flourishes. There’s this playful contrast between angular and organic, between support and decoration. It reminds me of the way artists like Hilma af Klint would mix geometry with mystical symbols. I wonder if Cachet was also trying to find some kind of deeper meaning in his design? It's like he’s saying, "Hey, even something as simple as a standard can be a work of art." And you know what? I think he's right.