Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I laughed, I cried. i cried again when i had to redo this.

*edit edited*


So in this chapter we talked about the Industrial Revolution that took place in London. This era was a step for graphic design because it took design away from broadsheets to something we recognize today such as posters. This was possible because of the advancements in printers. The first steam powered printer was made by Friedrich Koenig whose printer could print over 400 sheets per hour. Other advancements included the Fourdrinier brothers who created a machine that could create an endless supply of paper, even though they bankrupted themselves in the process! But even with these printers all the letters had to be individually placed which took a long time (because typing this takes a long time think about doing it one letter at a time!) But all was saved in due time by a hero we call Mergenthaler who had a keyboard operated machine that would drop the letter in place when you pushed a button. Kind of like a crappy typewriter....Next we move onto to something that is just getting started, if you couldn't guess by previously reading this post it is photography. Niepce was the first credited to experiment with light sensitive materials but the process was perfected by Daguerre. Other notable achievements include Sir John Herschel who figured out the negative and George Eastman who developed the first Kodak camera. Mathew Brady who took pictures of the civil war and was the first historical documenter.


One thing i find interesting is that the first photographed man was done on accident and we dont even know the name.


Question: Explain Chromolithographic printing?



*edit edited*


I laughed, i cried, i feel asleep, and i finished the reading. This blog i am deciding to take a new method. While i read i took notes and during my notes i asked questions and i made comments. so instead of re typing everything i will share my notes and what i learned and what i thought of it all...

Chapter 9


Industrial Revolution Location- England


This is the beginning of the industrial revolution starting in the 1780s with the introduction of the steam engine. Not only did the industrial revolution start the transformation from rural to urban living began but so did the advancements in graphic design. This became the first time that factory system fractured graphic communications into seperate design and production componenets. Typography its self exploded with new letterforms different sizes. The invention of photography and eventually the process of printing photographs. Before the industrial revolution books and broad sheets were the main type of typographic communication. But with the revoulution with advertising and posters and faster printers, large scale, more publicity. Books and broadsheets handwriting typography was not enough.


Lithographic printers- skilled craftsmen rendered plates directly from an artists sketch and produced images and leterforms from the artists imagination


QUESTION- When was the first non-human printer developed meaning manpower was not needed to print. ANSWERED


Cotterell- First to sand-cast large, bold display letters ( twelve lines of pica or 2 inches)


Robert Thorne- Cotterell’s successor was the first to use thick strokes in type making them “bold” around 1803 sometimes with a 1:2 ratio of capital height.


Figgin- 1815 specimen book presented the first 19th century version of tuscan letters. This style is represented by curved and extended serifs. (reminds me of style used for circuses) Friggins introduced the first “3-D text” This caught on very fast and it became manipulated in many ways including thinner backs floral disigns on the front of letters ect.


QUESTION- What do they mean by specimen books?


The third major typographic advancement came in william caslon the 4th’s specimen book was San-Serif.


Darius Wells- 1827 invented a lateral router that enabled the economic mass manufacturing of wood typed for display printing since metal casings were very exspensive to make. This made printing so much easier that customers were invited to send in a drawing of one letter and the manufactury would design a whole font family off of the drawing. This increased demand for public posters by many clients including traveling circuses to clothing stores to train stations.


At this time designers only job was to fit the words on the paper and to use the fonts they had available just by enlongating the font or squishing. Emphasis important words ect. Also around this time you start to see transformation away from public postings and more newspaper and magazine space advertising.


Printing


Friedrich Koenig- Invented the steam powered printer printed 400 sheets an hour.


William Cowper- 1815 patent for a printing press using curved stereotyped plates wrapped around a cylinder. 2400 Impressions per hour.


Obvioulsly these advancements in printing saved labor cost and improved newspaper quality and lowered costs.


Fourdrinier brothers created a machine that could create an endless sheet of paper. “ Fourdrinier brothers gave the world economical and abundant paper, they ruined themselves financially in the proccess” QUOTE OF THE DAY


Mechanization of typography- Setting every letter of every word of every newspaper slowed down the printing machines.


Mergenthaler- On July 3rd 1886 demonstrated his keyboard operated machine. Some how cast metal when a button was pushed.


QUESTION- explain this? And the competition New York Newspaper had.


Photography


Niepce- Was the first to experiment with light sensitive materials for capturing images his first invention he called heliogravure or Sun engraving.


Daguerre- Perfected the process of photography, a highly polished silver- plated copper sheet was sensitized by placing it, silver side down, over a container of iodine crystals they combined the plate was then put in a camera and exposed to light then the disk was was placed over a plate of mercury. Then a salt bath then you had a picture.


Statement about above WTF!!


Talbot- Also worked with photographs, called his photographs “photogenic drawings”

Sir John Herschel- First to use Sodium Thiosulfate to make images permanent him and talbot shared information. And talbot found a way to reversed the picture and they called it a negative. Whole process became called photography.


George Eastman- Developed the Kodak Camera in 1888.


1881- The era of photographic reproduction had arrived. The tedious process of transferring a artists designs to woodblocks that took 1 week. Was now replaced with a photographic process that took 1-2 hours with greatly reduced costs.


Victorian Era (1819-1901)


This period preffered very gothic like design (PENCIL OF NATURE IMAGE) 9-40


SOAPBOX TIME- I truly do not like the type of design that we have been studying I do don’t like the design like the illuminated manuscripts and the design of the churches with very elaborate paintings on the ceilings and fancy stain glassed windows. It may be interesting just because it took so long to make but from a design point I hate it because everything looks so clustered and geometrically centered and correct.


The graphic design of the victorian era captured and conveyed values of the era which included printed images of children, maidens, puppies, and flowers.


The Development of Lithography


Lithography was invented by Bavarian author Aloys Senefelder in 1796. (SIDE NOTE...Why do the dates jump around in this book so much cant we start here and then work toward photography.)

He developed planographic printing which is printing from a flat surface. Lithography is based on the simple chemical principle that oil and water do not mix so the image is drawn on a a flat stone with oil based pen then water poured to moisten non oil parts then oil base paints over that so paint sticks to the oil pen then a sheet is placed over that and you a printing press to make the transfer and whoa you got you print.


French Printer Godefroy Engelmann created a process called chromolithogrophie in 1837. Pretty much several printers did several colors.


QUESTION: Am I Right with this idea above?


Richard Hoe- perfected lithographic press it had the ability to do economical color printing,


QUESTION: How did he figure out color printing?


Bufford- Specializing in art prints, posters, covers, and book magazines bufford used 5 colors or more. Started off with the black print then used combination of color presses to get different tones. With over-printing.


QUESTION- Did color printing come before photography? I think it did but I get confused cause the book is jumping around.


Lithography- the process of printing from a flat surface treated so as to repel the ink except where it is required for printing.


Chromolithography- a colored picture printed by lithography, esp. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


Chromolithography, Quickly spread, 1860 60 firms emplyed over 800 people and in 1890 over 8000 people were employed by 700 firms. Designers had the ability to add vibrant colors to typography


Englishman Robert Barclay recieved a pattent for offset lithographic printing on tin process is on page 157.


1897 marked the end of chromolithography and the introduction of photography. That answers my question.


Kids

Walter Crane- One of the earliest and most influential designers of childrens picture books (besides dr. Suess :) )


Advertising Design


Harper Brothers- Harper’s Illuminated and Pictorial Bible they made it in fifty four installments with 28 pages each. The harper brother firm opened the era of the pictorial magazine in 1850 (here we go with the date jumping around) this was the first monthly magazine.


Nast- a illustrator for the magazine became famous for his drawing of the cicil war in the magazine. Then after the war nast became the first political cartooner, he created such symbols as santa clasu, John Bull, The democratic donkey, the republican elaphent, Uncle sam and several more. Nasts most famous work included “tammany tiger” political cartoon attacking Tweed.


QUESTION: Why do they always make bibles first?


Notice how my notes start great and get shorter as i realize i have 29 more pages.


But one thing i found real interesting about this reading is the photography section although it confused me a lot it is real interesting how they figured out to do that cause what are the chances?


1 comment:

  1. Chris, you are cracking me up. But yes, this is the idea of this class in general- you should question everything you are seeing- and it's totally understandable if you "don't like" what you see- and you should learn from that. Sometimes we study history to learn what NOT to do.
    I'm curious to see what you will like when we get into the modern designs.
    Laura

    ReplyDelete