Paul Rutan III
Art 461
Critical Review #1
September 26, 2014
Garamond and Baskerville: Typography as Art
The advent of the moveable type by Johan Gutenberg in 1455 marked the first step towards transforming Western civilization from a predominantly illiterate culture into one of universal literacy. The rapid spread of the printed word brought new ideas and philosophies that brought Europe into the modern world. Printing with moveable type served as the catalyst for the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. Simply put, it could be argued that typography is the most important inventions in Western Civilization’s history. (Meggs, 68)
A typographer is one who prints using small movable wooden or metal pieces that have alphabet characters on them. Johan Gutenberg may have created typography, however it took several generations of typographers to perfect his craft. Claude Garamond and John Baskerville are two typographers that have advanced the art of typography. (Macmillan, 6) This paper will be discussing the life and times of these type designers and how their innovations pushed typography towards the dynamic art form it is today.
Claude Garamond (1480-1561) was a French type founder at the leading edge of the French Renaissance. He trained as a type designer under the
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Garamond’s fonts signaled the end of the medieval design aesthetic in most of Europe. Baskerville’s fonts epitomized the scientific ideals of the Enlightenment. Together these two men link all of the major innovations in typography since Gutenberg’s letterpress. Even though their eras were guided by starkly contrasting philosophical ideologies they had one very important thing in common. They both had the desire to elevate the art of typographic letterform to high art. The fact that their work is still relevant today clearly illustrates that they have achieved this
(Hook) Throughout the history of man, there has been numerous achievements in human communication that have changed lives greatly. (Bridge) One of the milestones in communication was the printing press. (Background Info) In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany. By 1600, more than 200 million books had come off the presses. Therefore, an average person living in Europe at the time could own a book, such as a copy of the Bible. As the number of books being produced increased, the literacy rate increased as well. As a result, people started to read and explore topics such as science, religion, and geography. The printing press led to a major price drop in books, more knowledge learned, and many significant events in history, such as the Age of Exploration and the Reformation. (Thesis) I believe that the most crucial consequence of the printing press was the Age of Exploration.
By being educated at a young age in literacy, I included it in my pottery and also working for newspaper companies strengthened my form of expression. Working in the South Carolina Republican and then later on The Edgefield Hive as a typesetter, it was a good experience helping my literacy skills but I didn’t feel fully indulged. I did it because I had to but also to learn. By understand typography, I was able to understand the science of the anatomy of type. They taught me the use of size, spacing, and placement of typography in order to show hierarchy, direction and attraction. I became to understanding that type is a collective of shapes and strokes. Master Abner 's newspaper did not get a lot of publicity and hit a crisis, which led him to cease publication of the newspapers. Master Abner then moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1832. He decided to leave me back in Edgefield and...
Figure 8: documents the creation of my own typeface. conventional design. Here are some images of it. Figure 8 shows one key aspect of it, which is the use of creativity as I created my own typeface. The creation of my own font has the ability to empower other designers experiment with typeface design. Figure 9 shows another key aspect of it, which is the idea of breaking down
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
This new technology is not without its shortcomings. First, the printing press used limited materials. Next, as Mumford notes, the advent of print led calligraphers and manuscript copyists out of work. Furthermore, as Graff finds, it created “typographical fixity”—material once printed cannot be changed. Finally, mass production was dependent and limited to large markets (Mumford, 95)....
The first printing press was created to make books (Mostly bibles in the day) cheaper and more accessible. At this time only nobles and scribes new how to read and write. In result of this press, written pieces became commonplace making the common people needing to know how to read and write. This literacy spread and spread as the printing press became more common and caused the majority of the world’s people to be as literate as it is today which helped to revolutionize the work
Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable type printing press changed the world. It changed religion, literature, and geography. He used molds instead of having scribes handwrite books. It helped produce written works at a much faster rate than previously. This made them cheaper, and more affordable to the less fortunate. This increased the literacy rate. Gutenberg’s original printing press was invented in Germany, but quickly spread throughout Europe (Document 2). Gutenberg’s creation is no doubt one of the most useful things we have in today’s world.
Renner was born in 1878, and grew up in Wernigerode, Germany. He was a teacher, graphic designer, type designer and author. In 1926 he was a director at Munich’s Graphic Arts College, Later in 1927 he went on to become the director of the Munich Master Printers in 1927. He then wrote a book called Typography as Art in1922, he also wrote cultural Bolshevism in 1932.The Cultural Bolshevism later caused him dismissal from his directorship, because of the National Socialist Party. In his early studies Renner went on to explore different aspects of letterform that varied from the traditional roman form.
The purpose of this Essay is to discuss an example of design from the late 1800s, I will relate it to the social, economic, technical and cultural context of that time. . I intend on delivering details of the artist and his life experiences as well as his style and possible interests. I will also evaluate the subject with my own opinion, likes and dislikes, with comparisons of work and artists from within that period up to the present date
6. McLuhan, Marshall. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. [Toronto]: University of Toronto Press, 1962.
Throughout history, the primary focus in life has been to supply oneself with necessities to survive and pass on your legacy through offspring. Now modern life in America has transformed into overloading our brains with advertisements, flashing lights, and constant entertainment regardless if we want it or not. Through considering the history of typography and the transition into the age of entertainment, the switch from typography to television will adversely affect public discourse and through the development of media metaphors, and along with the rise of the internet and its convince has shaped contemporary American thought, sending a wave of ignorance from one generation to the next. This new way of mechanized life is the way of the future,
Graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister has always had a unique way of viewing the world, therefore has created designs that are both inventive and controversial. He is an Austrian designer, who works in New York but draws his design inspiration while traveling all over the world. While a sense of humor consistently appears in his designs as a frequent motif, Sagmeister is nonetheless very serious about his work. He has created projects in the most diverse and extreme of ways as a form of expression. This report will analyse three of Stefan’s most influential designs, including the motives and messages behind each piece.
Typeface designer Adrian Frutiger was an exceptional designer who created some of today’s most used typefaces. Born 1928 in Interlaken, Switzerland. Frutiger is a well-versed designer who has worked in photographic and digital typesetting as well as designing typeface. He got his start by age 16 as a printer’s apprentice, and, after that, furthered his education at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts. From 1948 to 1951 he studied sculpture and design, but his primary focus was calligraphy. After schooling, he worked for Deberny & Peignot in 1952. Frutiger has built a legacy that has changed the world of type. In his lifetime he has designed more than one hundred and seventy typefaces, many which have
Barnett, Peter. “The French Revolution in Art”. ArtId, January 7th 2009. Web. 5th May 2013.
The invention of the printing press helped to make printed materials available to individuals of all social classes not only “to princes, scholars and individuals who could afford the materials” (Thompson 210). The printing press allowed the English language to stabilize. The availability of standardized print for punctuation, grammar and spelling looked the same. “No longer was literature a rarefied privileged domain” (Menon, Sindhu and Merriman, Renaissance in Literature). The invention of movable print and the ability to produce printed materials allowed the idea of trading printed books and material...