Born Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, Cassandre studied painting and was a friend of many leading figures in Parisian avant-garde society of the 1920s, including Apollinaire, Fernand Leger and Erik Satie. His posters combined bold images with a stylised simplicity and Modern typefaces.
In 1927 he founded an advertising agency, Alliance Graphique with Charles Loupot and Maurice Moyrand. Cassandre designed three typefaces: Bifur ( 1929), L’Acier ( 1930) and Peignet (1937).