Iron printing press - 1800
Iron can be fabricated
this is something that can be cast, pieces can be made
more durable
greater force with less human power (gear system)
cheaper, quicker, easier
cast iron with a screw
using 1/10 the force to create its impressions
Powered Presses
made 10 years after iron press
can print 400 impressions an hour
Double Cylinder Press
4 years later
1000 impressions an hour
industrialization affects fabric industry
steam powered machines come in
less need for workers
this leads to rebellion
people rioting smashing machines
led by ned lite
ledittes = anti technology
London Times
1814 printed by steam powered press
had to print in secret
had to convince public electricity was a good idea
people didn't want it, didn't see the point of it
Papers become popular
easier to produce
less expensive
shift in business model
newspapers sold by subscription
Penny Papers
sold to average person on street
start selling ads to make up money
start off visually conservative
John Cooper
first ad men were brokers of space
starts first ad agency
Ottmar Mergenthaler
1886 linotype machine
"line of type"
can do the work of 7-8 hand compositors
Victorian Era graphics
marked by aesthetic confusion
strong moral beliefs
religious beliefs
loved fussiness
rise of middle class
more people with disposable money
a lot of influence from the east
decline in quality of craft
Lithography and color lithography
invented in 1796
able to have gradations
chromolithography - color lithography
Ephemera
printed documents not meant to collect
Louis Prang
father of scrap language
scrap cards were like promos
Personalities in products
products start adopting personas
Rise of popular magazines
The Practical Housekeeper
placing ad next to article create relationship
Toybooks
made as entertainment for children
Kate Greenway
idealized children in dresses
generous use of white space
Thomas Nast
father of american political cartoon
uncle sam
republican donkey & elephant
modern depiction of santa claus
gives us Columbia
one of the reasons that led to tweeds downfall
John Ruskin
how can society consciously order the lives of its members so that the most people are happy and satisfied
people starting to have big thoughts
belief that beautiful things are valuable just because they're beautiful
William Morris
father of Arts & Crafts movement
inspired by writings of John Ruskin/social movements
son of a wealthy merchant
lets become craftsman again, build a quality chair
flaw in logic is the higher cost
Morris has the idea to turn away from industrialization to go back to making things
Conclusion
There's a lot of different types of presses that we learned about today in class and I thought it was interesting to see how they worked. You start to see a sort of progression when it comes to the printing press where they just keep getting better and better and better. Knowing that a certain press can make a certain number of impressions per hour is useful to know because it gives me an idea of how efficient they were. Seeing examples really helps also because I get an idea of what the presses were capable of.
Once again I see the connection between Graphic Design and Advertising which is one of the topics I'm most interested in. Even though I've never heard of some of the names mentioned in class I knew that the first admen weren't really admen at all. I get to learn a bit more about advertising from a different perspective which I find pretty interesting.
I also liked learning about Thomas Nast and Boss Tweed. I remember hearing of Tweed back in high school but I didn't remember much about him or Nast. It's nice to make connections with people I learned about in high school in my history class and how they relate to the history of Graphic Design.
