The Crystal Palace, 1854, (the symbol of Victorian design)
class: take a look at this link for typeface development from 15th to 19th century.
Let me summarize a bit: We had to move fast, so there is plenty to comment about typeface development: from Gutenberg to Jenson to Manutius, Griffo, Caslon, Baskerville, Didot (influenced by Baskerville), Bodoni, and Morris, etc. it's a very interesting story of design influenced by climate, language and culture, and by "culture" I mean religion, politics, ideas, etc. In the end you could see it as a struggle between north and south, Humanism, vs. Conservatism, Protestantism vs. Catholicism, etc.
There are graphic design highlights: 1. newspapers, 2. magazines, 3. the advent of "community of interests" (gardening, mechanics, children's books, music printing, postcards), 4. 19th century posters: fairs, circus, night life in general, etc.
In terms of technological development we had: the advent of photography and how it changes how culture sees itself: landscape photography, portraiture, natural science, war reportage, anthropology (Talbot's Pencil of Nature), etc.
In terms of movement we briefly talked about Romanticism, Victorian design (by the way forgot to talk about this), Arts and Crafts (Ruskin, Morris, Crane), The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood movement and (I owe you Decadence, Oscar Wilde and Art Nouveau).
I need the class to make comments (they constitute 20% of the final grade). Also, try to make your comments more relevant to what we're discussing.
11 comments:
This recent lecture was very interesting because i wasn't aware of the profound impact printing and typeface had on culture for the past centuries. I learned that typeface and printing styles differ depending on the country. For example Italy loves their typeface romanticized and classical font while the French prefer Gothic. This can correlate to not only typeface but fashion, architecture, and many more. In addition, i found interesting that the style of photography changes depending on the time or culture.
- Chris Green
Although I wasn't in class for this lecture, I am well aware that art has and always will have, a great impact on society. During the times when photography was starting to be played around with, there was great political and social unrest with the War. Although to my knowledge, the common man or woman did not really have access to this technological development. It allowed reporters to portray gruesome images and showcase just how poor certain conditions were in newspapers and magazines. This helped stir the population and sway their emotions and opinions towards certain political and social events. I think it's great when art in any form can cause so much chaos and uproar.
-Ethan Punal
We went quickly over Howard Pyle, but I think he has a compelling, movie-esque drawing style. I love his juxtaposition of complex anthropomorphic imagery on a static, yet grandiose, background. It captivates the viewer into an almost cinemagraphic world, as if each drawing in itself is a snapshot. The correlations we can make between his drawings and modern film are also stimulating. I noticed he uses lighting (in the artistic sense) to elicit emotion and sway the movement of each illustration. His images make the mind want to create a background story, to fill in the past and future. That sense of creativity from the audience is part of the genius of static art, a trait that has somewhat been lost from modern entertainment. Now, we are more inclined to simply follow the story of the production as it is laid out. Pyle’s drawing point to an interesting period of history where the seeds of cinematographic drama, motion and illumination seem to have been planted in America.
-Ryan Berkun
I really enjoyed learning about how typefaces have changed dramatically- running in parallels with contemporary movements. It is something so integral to our daily lives, the building blocks almost, that its importance and relevance can sometimes pass us by. However, it is really interesting to see how you can track the changes in historical movements- a change in society correlates to a change in typeface, the introduction of newspapers is a good example of this. I also found the division between north and south particularly fascinating. The clear differences in architecture of spiralling gothic in the north and renaissance, classical revival in the south also translated into the typeface, showing how the culture of the two distinct areas runs through the visual arts.
Charlotte Leseberg Smith
I enjoyed your discussion of the pre-Raphaelite creed and aesthetics. I found it interesting how the pre-Raphaelites rejected Victorianism and its medieval revival and favored a return to the gothic which the pre-Raphaelites perceived as truthful. You mentioned how the pre-Raphaelite creed was to create design by craftsmen for the people. However, ironically these handmade items individually crafted by a single artisan were very expensive and thereby inaccessible to the “people” for whom they were intended. As you said, the comparison of the pre-Raphaelites to our culture is valid in that a similar desire to peel back industry and impersonal consumer products is very evident in the move towards organic farming and eating, craft products, and support of local shops and restaurants over chains. Like the pre-Raphaelites this movement is intended to benefit society as a whole by asserting our independence from massive commercial conglomerates, but in reality it’s a lifestyle that not many can afford. It begs the question to what extent should a certain lifestyle or certain type of product be elevated as superior if it is not accessible to the majority?
-Abbie Auster
I was unable to make the lecture last Wednesday, but after going through some of the topics you went over I fascinated by the different typography in the posters. The typefaces in each poster differ depending on the advertisement and the artwork that goes along with it. In the Frank Vacik the type face curls in similarity to the women’s headpiece. I really enjoyed looking at the different artwork on each poster and how it varies. Each one has a distinct look depending on the year and the artist. Their are a variety of illustrated vs photographed posters. Even to this day I believe we use the same strategies they used back than just in more advanced software (i.e Adobe Creative Cloud).
-Sydney Shugarman
Beforehand, typeface concentrated on mirroring humanist ideals, (seen in Geofroy Tory). It was interesting to me how much effort and study went into the development of typeface to represent humanist ideologies and contemporary scientific studies at the time. The development of graphic design throughout the course of mass media was something I enjoyed learning about throughout this lecture, particularly the transmission of letters no longer for an aesthetic purpose but for a practical one i.e. varying typefaces to maximise space and grab attention in urban landscapes or how standardised formats of graphic design came into play at the beginning of the 19th century e..g books had a certain format, or cards, responsible for designing communication between individuals fell into certain formats to help people visualise something as easy as possible.
-Gemma Finegold
Unfortunately having still been in Germany last class, I nonetheless enjoyed the slides that exemplified the multiple styles of typewriting. In particular, I am intrigued by Geoffrey Tory’s anatomical approach of constructing the letters to reflect human proportions. Moreover , this I believe contrasts with the prints of Giambattista Bodoni’. With his lettering, the focus seems to be on simple geometric simplicity, with the interplay of thin and thick elements.
Nonetheless, it can be said that the development of print and typing was accompanied with the birth of modern capitalism and mass production. These types of lettering allowed the production of advertisement, something that at the turn of the century had just started to flourish.
An interesting question to ask, is who and what does print serve in today’s world? In a world in which graphic design has become a norm, does print serve the consumer or the producer? Is it the reader who in the end gets to enjoy a well presented book and its cover, or does it merely serve the publisher who gets the money off the catchy fonts?
-Victoria von Faber-Castell
I enjoyed how the recent lecture highlighted early areas of movement. One piece that I thought was especially notable was the slide with pictures of Victorian furniture. The design and detail was so extra and so over the top. It seems like it was a move backwards in art stylistically then it was a move forward. The overly ornamental furniture does not seem practical. William Morris’ room also seemed to have a similar element because there was so much texture in one room. I felt like the room was overwhelming and by having so many textures and patterns it subtracted from the craft of the artist because it was harder for my eye to focus on the intricacies of just one piece. However, I do appreciate that the goals behind the arts and craft movement were against mass production and trying to reestablish a connection between the artist and the craft.
I really enjoyed this past lecture in which we talked mainly about the different typefaces and how they relate to humanist ideas. It is amazing to think of how much effort and thought was but into the development of each different typeface. It is also amazing how they would all change depending on the certain movement the world and humanity was going through. Not only movements affected typeface but also architecture and culture. Different visual arts, climate, fashion, culture, etc would affect the way a letter was drawn. I would have never thought of a letter looking like a chair or even a column. An example of this would be the Italians, how this cultrure is known for their romanticism, and how this would later reflect on the way they would write. On the other hand the French would prefer a more gothic style, due to their gothic architecture.
- Sara Valbuena
As a PR student who has taken a few graphic design classes I can understand how typeface plays a roll in tone and message for a graphic design piece. Curves or slants or thick dark script hep characterize advertisements or print works. However, it wasn't until last week's class that I learned how far back typeface has been helping to characterized societies of different cultures, time and region. For instance, France is most commonly known for its gothic script and historians and art historians can dissent written works from long ago and by understanding typeface pinpoint the region and era. It was also interesting to see how some of the masters of typeface and print utilized whitespace to complement the writing with its own purposes. White space and empty space can be as essential as the writing with the actual message.
-Camila Chediak
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