The Gutenberg Press | 1450 AD

What is Johannes Gutenberg credited with?
He is credited with inventing the technology of printing with moveable type.

Most influential person of al times... Printing press invention occupies the same status.

Post a photo of the Gutenberg Press.

How did the printing press work? 
Hand press. Ink was rolled over the raised surface of moveable hand-set black letters held within a wooden form. Form was pressed against a sheet of paper.

What motivated Gutenberg to find a better way of creating books?
Working with his father and his love of reading motivated him to find a better way to create books.

Why did Gutenberg experiment with metal type versus wood type?
Gutenberg concluded that metal type (or movable type) could be reproduced quickly once a single mold could be made.

Post an example of movable type in a type case.

What is moveable type?
Moveable type is the system of printing that uses moveable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual letters and punctuations). Lettering was more uniform.

What is a matrix?Hard metal punch is hammered into a soft copper bar, creating a matrix.Then, placed into a hand-held mold. Piece of type is cast by filling the mold with molten metal.

The matrix can be reused so the same character appearing anywhere within the book will appear very uniform.

What ink did Gutenberg develop that he used specifically for the printing press?
Oil-based ink. More durable then the water based ink.

What is paper made from? Where did paper originate?
Paper is a substrate made from wood pulp. Chinese created the first piece of paper.

What is a "substrate"?


Who did Gutenberg seek to help with the invention of the press? 

Johon Fust, a wealthy businessman.

At the end of the 5 years, what happened? 

If Gutenberg could not repay the loan, with interest, Fust would get the printing press, tools, and materials.Close to the end of 5 years, what happened?Before the 200 bibles were completed, Fust sued Gutenberg to get his money.
Judge ruled in favor of Fust and made Gutenberg pay. Gutenberg turned over the printing press, tools, materials and all 180 Bible.

What was the first book he printed?

A two volume Bible.

Post an example of this book.

How did the Gutenberg Press impact communication?

Perfected script and made it easier to read.

Books made more rapidly.

Curent information could be shared locally around the world.

Cost of books decreased allowing more people to buy them.

Demand grew and population became more literate.

Who introduced the printing press to England?
William Caxton produced the first book in English. Fist english person to work as a printer.

What was the early form of newspapers?
!525, trade newsletters began to develop as an early form of newspaper.

When was the first news weekly published? What was it called?
1704. The boston letter, by John Campbell.

What kind of press was built in the US in the mid 1800s?

Lord Stanhope had built a press completely out or cast iron.

Post an example of a 1930s printing press.

By the late 1930s, presses had increased in efficiency and were capable of 2,500 to 3,500 impressions per hour. What is meant by "impression"?

Which printing process is the Gutenberg press an example of? Briefly describe the process?Relief printing 

Intaglio

Porous

Lithography

Post an example of an intaglio press.

What is intaglio printing and how is ink transferred?Image area is etched into the plate surface to hold the ink.

Ink is applied, then rubbed with a cloth to remove the excess. Damp pare is placed on top. A press applies pressure to transfer the ink to the paper.

Post an example of a screen (porous) printing press.

What is porous printing and how is ink transferred?Basic stencil process. image is attached to a screen. Ink is forced through open mesh areas.

Post an example of a lithography printing press.

What is lithography and how is ink transferred?Printing on a flat surface. Based on the concept that oil and water do not readily mix.

Drawing, or artwork , is made on the plate with greasy ink or crayon. Mater is applied. When ink is spread on top, the greasy parts accept ink, the wet parts do not.

Post an example of a offset lithography printing press.

What variation of lithography is used by the commercial printing industry today?
Most commercial printing is printed with a similar form of the lithography process called. offset lithography.

How do printing presses used today compare to the Gutenberg Press?


Describe four-color process printing using CMYK?

The Codex and the Illuminated Manuscript | 1st century AD

Post an example of a scroll.

What were the drawbacks of the scroll?
They only allowed the reader to read the test in the order it was written
















Post an example of a codex.

What is a codex?
covered and bound collection of hand written pages.

"Codex" is derived from the Latin meaning "block of wood". Why?
Compactness, sturdiness and ease of reference.

What is the difference between "sequential access" and "random access"?Random Access- one can go to any point in the codex to find information. Can be opened to any page flat. more portable.
Sequential Access- one must go through the scroll to find a certain passage.

What were the advantages of using the codex?
Codex was easier to organize in libraries because the title could be written on the spine.

What helped spread the use of the codex?
The bible

What replaced papyrus? Describe the process used to create it?
Parchment. A substrate made from an animal skin such as sheep goats and cows.

What is vellum?
finer qualities of parchment. made by the skins of young calves.

Name several examples of current technology that utilizes the format of the codex?
Books, even digital books have the same appearance as the codex.

What led to a period of cultural and economical deterioration?
the decline of the roman empire resulted in fewer books being created, this led to a period of cultural and economical deterioration known as the dark ages.
















Post an example of an illuminated manuscript.



Who began creating books by hand, taking the creation to an art form?
Monastic Monks.

What does "illumination" refer to? What was included in this ornamentation?
illumination refers to the borders, illustrations and the ornamentation added to each page of the text.

What tool was used for creating the illuminated manuscripts?


Why were these manuscripts reserved for religious purposes?


What is craftsmanship? Why is it important?

The Phoenician Alphabet | 1050 BC

The Phoenician alphabet is based on what principle?
One sign represents one spoken sound.


Describe the shape of the letters and what tool created them?
Most of the shapes were angular and straight.


What two reasons made the Phoenician alphabet so successful?
The system contrasted with other scripts at the time which made it difficult to learn.
The trading culture of the phoenician merchants spread the use of the alphabet to parts of north africa and europe

What long term effects on the social structures of civilizations did the Phoenicians have with the creation of their alphabet?
The phoenician alphabet had long term effects on social structures of the civilization which came in contact with it



Post an example of the Phoenician alphabet in visual form.

The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians?
Phoenicians regularly traveled to greece and established trade agreements with them/

How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor?
The arrangement of the phoenician alphabet was much less suitable for greek languages
Several of the consonants were adapted as vowels.
As well, additional letters were included.

Why is the Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet?
It has given rise to many other alphabets, including the latin alphabet.

Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets?
Over 50,000 english words are derived from the greek language 

Post an example of the Greek alphabet in visual form. 

The Roman Alphabet | 7th century BC

What was the basis of the Roman uppercase alphabet?
The romans used a variant of the greek alphabet as the basis for their uppercase alphabet.

What were the purposes of the formal and informal styles of lettering?
A rigid, formal script was used for important manuscripts and official documents.
A quicker, more informal style was used for letters and routine types of writing.

Why is the Roman alphabet the most widely used and what contributions did it make?
Serifs originated from the carving of words into stone.
Institution of the baseline in typography and penmanship.
Romans ensured that type was perfectly aligned in rows.

From where did serifs originate?
Ancient Italy.

When and where did lowercase, or minuscule, letters develop?


What is a ligature and why were they utilized?
Ligature- 2 or more letters combined into one character 
To make writing easier or more attractive 





Post an example of the Roman alphabet in visual form. 

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC"

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt?
Egypt was invaded by persians. Then later by the greeks and the romans.


Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.


What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
Inside the temples were carvings and painted images on every wall and surface.
Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language?
Influenced by cuneiform.
What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements?
Logograms-visual symbols representing ideas or objects
Alphabetic/Phonetic- document writing


The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words?
Hiero-sacred
Glyphic-writing


What is a scribe?
Someone who writes down records of history

Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
student, military leaders- to communicate in battle.

Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.


What is papyrus and how was it made?substrate made from reeds native to egypt.
wet reeds are placed criss-cross over each other flattened and dried.
then rubbed with flat stones until the surface becomes smooth.


What is a substrate?

What were the Books of the Dead?
instructions and spells to help them get to the afterlife.






How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language?


When the greeks and romans captured egypt, few people could still read and write hieroglyphics. 


Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.

What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
A slab with inscriptions on it. It was discovered in 1798.


What three languages are included on the stone?
Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek.


Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered?
A chunk of the stone was missing.


Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough?
Jean Francois Champollion. He was able to match up the hieroglyphics with the greek version of the name Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses'.


Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance?
We now know a lot about the ancient egyptians and egyptian hieroglyphics. 

 

Cuneiform and the Sumerians | 3,000 BC"

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean?
Nomadic Civilizations, around 3500BC.

Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization?
Where cuneiform was created. The worlds first written language.


What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate?
Agriculture.



Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph).
Why was Cuneiform created?They needed a way to keep track of there business

What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface?
The would wet clay, flatten it into a slab, write the business transactions, then let it harden in the sun.

What did Cuneiform begin as a series of?
Pictographs



Post an example of evolved Cuneiform (wedge-shaped).

After it evolved over time, what shape did the characters of Cuneiform evolve into?
Wedge shaped.



















Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.

After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language?
The Akkadians adopted the sumerians written language.
What is a pictograph?
A pictorial or visual representation of an object.

Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture?
They had a way of communicating that no other culture had. There businesses were more successful because they had records of everything.

Cave Paintings | 35,000 years ago

What are cave paintings?
beautiful detailed colorful representations found on the inside of cave walls and ceilings. Found in Western Europe, Australia, Africa, and China.

Name several common themes found in cave paintings?
Large animals-Bison and deer. Outlines of hands.

How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)?
MIxes of water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and hematite(a form of iron o
Brushes, sticks, stones, animal hair


What is the most famous cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?
Lascaux, France. Discovered in 1940 by 4 teenage boys.



Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.


Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity?
Paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide from the tourists. The government made a replica Called the Lascaux 2. 




Post an example of cave painting(s) from Altamira cave.





In Altamira cave, why do most of the paintings have a red hue?
The red hue comes from the red clay in the soil.

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be?
Discovered by Marceline De Sautuola and his daughter Maria. 19,000 years ago.

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?
Chauvet-Pont Arc. Discovered by 3 speleologists. Eliette Brunell Dschamps, Christian Hillaire, and Jean-Marie Chauvet.
Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.


What was different about the painting techniques at this site?
The walls were wiped/scraped clean from all debris.

What is "speleology"?

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings?
To tell a story, Help teach about hunting techniques, and created for magical or religious reasons.

Poster Inspiration

I like the way the "graphic" is split by "design" and the emphasis of the whole design.

The organization I have.

The primary colors and the typography describing mario.

Visual Organization

-Not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them!


Eye Movement: The typical eye moves <--left to right--> and top to bottom.
-Controlling eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye.


-The eyes tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first. In pictures of people, the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eye.


-Light areas of the composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area.


-Diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement.


Optical Center
-The spot where the human eye tends to enter the page. Optical center is slightly above mathematical ( or exact ) center and just to the left.


-It takes a compelling element to pull your eyes away from this spot.


Z Pattern
-Our visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally, in the shape of a "Z".


-Effective page design maps a viewer's route through the information. The designer's objective is to lead the viewer's eye to the important elements or information.


Fonts
-Important to pay attention to fonts
1.Amount of fonts used - no more then 2 fonts in a composition
     -Fonts need to compliment each other 
     -Contrast
2.Avoid Uppercase
     -Use for Emphasize 
     -Comes across as yelling
3. Choose the Right Font
     -Fits the Theme and the Tone of your Design
4. Don't over use Fancy Fonts 
     -Scripts
     -Calligraphy 
     -Use as Headlines


Visual Hierarchy 

• Establish vocal points based on their importance to the message thats being communicated. 
• A crucial part of the design process is to establish an order of elements, a visual structure, to help the viewer absorb the information provided by a design.

To establish visual hierarchy:

1. What do I want my viewer to look at first?
2. What do I want my viewer to look at second?
3. What do I want my viewer to look at third?

 

All design involves problem solving on both visual and organizational levels.

 

The Grid

• A way of organizing content on a page, using any combination or margins, guide lines, rows and columns.
• Instituted by Modernism
• can assist the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks.
• A grid consists of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for disturbing elements across a format.
• Every design is different; therefore every design will require a different grid structure... one that addresses the particular elements within the design.
• A grid is used to help clarify the message being communicated and to unify the element.

Using/Pairing Fonts
www.typography.com/email/2010-03/index.html