what we have so far...

taken from bibliotypes

words originate from gestures of the body. 

the first typefaces are directly modeled on the forms of calligraphy. 

typefaces are not bodily gestures, they are manufactured images defined for infinite repetition. 

the history of typography reflects a continual tension between the hand and machine, organic and geometric, human body and abstract system. 

immediately after gutenberg, typefaces reflected traditional heavy, gothic script. 

humanist writers rejected gothic scripts in favour of "lettura antica" classic hand writing. 

humanist scripts were used in prestigious books. Cursive type was used in cheaper writing shops. 16th Century printers integrated "Roman" and "Italic" forms into type families. Italics were not simple slanted versions of the roman typeface. 

with the advent of capitalism, advertisers demanded BIG BOLD letters, distorting anatomical elements of classical letters. so, the larger fonts required carved wooden letters. 

now relationships between letters became more important than the letters themselves. 

your turn #2

Gif by Gwion Christmas

hi, kids. for this second class we did lots of things (we left like 5 posts from yesterday's class for next class): 

under big names: Gutenberg, Tagliente, Ratdolt, Manutius, Griffo, Tory, Wolgemut, et al.

under things discussed: character-as-mark, the importance of calligraphy, movable type, type-face as architecture (floor plan, house, chair), Incunabulum, etc.

under typefaces: Textura (Textualis), Italics, Romain de Ratdolt, Griffo's Bembo, cancelleresca corsiva, etc.

under amazing books: Gutenberg's Bible, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Nuremberg Chronicles
Radolt's Euclid Elements, Book of Hours, etc.

pick your topic, go ahead.

Post for comment #1

via sam reddyhoff

welcome to arh 346! we had a good meeting.

here are some of the topics we talked about:

design is designing, period. all shows "design."
neolithic human marks, why?
typeface in general, font as body, font as house,
idea--->pictograph,
technology impacting style, you do what you're allowed,
minuscule or majuscule?  
steele vs. papyrus vs. vellum vs. codex vs. book vs. kindle
typeface, from Trajan to Times, etc, etc,

remember to sign your name at the bottom of your comments. write down your name (even if you used an alias to sign in). remember this is a for-point weekly assignment. 

go ahead!

technology

 a replica of Gutenberg's press

Style choices are not under the control of designers. they are related to the ways technology develops in a broader cultural sphere.

what's style?

Alfred Stevens, La parisienne Japonaise (1872)

 for example, japonisme, which explodes in France by 1864, then comes to America 20 years later.

the graphic design profession

Some ideas...

To understand graphic design, we have to look at:

1- the profession (how many of you are aware of John Baskerville or Mathew Carter or Zuzana Licko?).
2- technology (as technology advances, we need to understand its place and value).
3- style (what's your syntax? what makes your design yours?).
4- Cultural traditions (graphic design is a product of our age, we have to understand it).