Week 2

Lascaux Caves

beginnings of visual communication

Storytelling

before written communication you need to be a good storyteller

Cuneiform Tablet

process of abstraction

begin with the picture of an idea

this picture leads to sounds

Phoenicians

wrote the sound of an object

Romans

adopted different parts of Greek culture

spread ideas by conquering people

spread language

Roman alphabet had 23 letters, predecessor to our own alphabet

Quadrata / Capital Rustica

Book of Kells

made around 1880

quicker to draw curves than verticals

isolation, speed, efficiency

Charlemagne

hired Alquin of York to be his squire

Woodblock Printing

everyone can afford to have one

changes the architecture of the human brain

Parchment

stretch skin on frame

peel skin with blade making it thinner and thinner

Letter of Indulgence

“get-out-of-jail-card”

Swveydem & Pannartz

evolution to Roman letters

style based on humanist writing of Italian scribes

Calendarium

belief in human spirit

interest in science and Earth

calender interesting at this time

printed disc, seperate sheet on top, and attached string

first example of tippet

Stephen Day

brought printing to colonies

worked as locksmith

went to colonies and set up printing shop

first book was full of songs

Rococo

decorative borders

fanciful French architecture

floral, intricate design

Engravings

1695 engravings of letterforms

square divided into grid of over 2000 units

more contrast between thicks and thins

serifs getting thinner

Copperplate Engraving

not limited to horizontal/vertical setting lead type

allows you to draw whatever you want

extreme thick and thins, thin limited to stylus

lots of swirls and curves

influenced design of metal type

England

government controls printing

King Charles 2 demand reduction of printers to 20

printing allows people to rally together

Giambattista Bodoni

page design have Roccoco traits

French revolution rejects Roccoco

looks at base units when designing letters

interchangeable units

reinvents serif without bracket

letterform built by few units

Bodoni typeface

brackets very tight

Fatface

made by extending a Bodoni

display typeface

Industrial Revolution

people want to sell things

development of brands

big typefaces become popular to attract attention

world affected econimcally, socially, politicaly

possible because of power

development of factory system/division of labor

Industrialization leads to consumerism

people begin to want stuff

loss of humanization with Industrialization

growing of literacy

Vincent Figgins

Egyptian faces

name so because we were digging in Egypt at the time

also known as slab serif

Sans serif

2 line Egyptian

cut off serifs

Tuscan Letters

display faces

done with routers

Posters

designed by what would fit into the space and what materials are available

Lithography

grind smooth marble slab

allows for mix of colors and near full color images

growth of newspaper and magazines

Historical Families

Old Style (Garamond)

based on traditions of hand

based on Roman faces

Transitional (Baskerville)

evolution to modern

contrast thicks and thins

vertical stress

Modern (Bodoni)

extreme thicks and thins

no brackets

Egyptian (Clarendon)

even weight

slab serifs

Sans Serif

no serifs

12 points = 1 pica

6 pica = 1 inch

72 points 1 inch

Conclusion

If someone asked me where the "beginnings of visual communication" began Lascaux Caves probably wouldn't even pop into my mind. I've heard people mention the caves a several times in several different courses but I never really thought of it as Graphic Design. After hearing about it in class it makes more sense to me now.

Learning about what things were like before the Industrial Revolution and before technology was around is interesting to me. I always wondered how typefaces were made in the past and even in the present. I knew it was probably a really long and annoying process but I didn't know any of the details.

I also made a connection with the History of Graphic Design and the history of my major, Advertising Design. Advertising started when people needed to sell things and crazy display typefaces became popular because of this. It's a pretty simple concept and it makes sense. If I want to sell something I have to be different than everyone else. I have to stand out. Why should someone look at my stuff and not his or his or hers. I've got to draw people in. If you use an obnoxious and bold typeface on your posters then they will draw attention. I just found it really interesting how certain things are connected.