Dear class: please, take a look at this link for typeface development from 15th to 19th century!
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), and Bodoni. It's a fascinating 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.
Erotica, take a look at these works (it's all in Wikipedia)
Here are the 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, nightlife in general, etc. (this is for next class).
In terms of technological development, we had: the advent of photography and how it changes how a 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 and Victorian design (by the way, forgot to talk about this).
We've moved on to the late Middle Ages & the beginning of the Renaissance, right before Gutenberg's moveable type invention in 1450. There's plenty to discuss. You may go back and pick any theme from the last class: Decretals, cartography, the printshop, Ratdolt, The Nuremberg Chronicles, life in the scriptorium, how the mark changes itself, design in the middle ages, even cheese production! Research your topic; no echo chambers.
Go ahead.