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.
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.
Introduction The introduction of the printing press changed society permanently. Along with this invention came the emergence of mass production of texts. Suddenly, information could be efficiently replicated, thus facilitating the dissemination process. Widespread alphabetic literacy, as Havelock states, could finally become a reality.
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
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.
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,
One is illustrated by the aesthetic differences between two typefaces that are included in most computers: Arial and Helvetica. Arial’s ubiquity is not due to its beauty. In fact, it is more than a copy of Helvetica (). Mark Simonson, an American graphic designer, produced an analysis of the two, which shows how much more refined Helvetica’s detailing is than Arial’s. The tail of the ‘a’ is gently curved in Helvetica, as is the first connection of the bowl to the stem, but not in Arial. Similarly, the top of the ‘t’ and the ends of the strokes in the ‘C’ and ‘S’ are perfectly horizontal in the former, but slightly angled in the latter. He also noted that the stem of Helvetica is more complex in the structure than those in Arial. The distinguishing details are so tiny that you can only see them if you scrutinize magnified versions of each character as Simonson did. Only a handful of the millions of people who use either typeface will ever look closely enough to notice them. Yet it is these subtleties that constitute Helvetica a finer example of design than Arial for professionals. Functionally the two fonts are roughly equal, as both are admirable clear and easy to read, but aesthetically Helvetica is superior and considered to be Super
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.
Hermann has brought many typefaces to papers, signposts, monuments, and computer screens. Some of his most known fonts are Palatino, Optima, and Melior. (Weber)
Barnett, Peter. “The French Revolution in Art”. ArtId, January 7th 2009. Web. 5th May 2013.
The printing press was invented in 1453. The movable printing technology was invented in China in 1040 but Johannes Gutenberg was able to perfect this technology by creating the Gutenberg printer in 1440. The printer was a movable type. A movable type was where individual blocks could be set up in order to print almost anything. Before this, wooden blocks, carved by hand were used to print things. These blocks would have consisted of what the individual wanted to print which would take an incredible amount of time. Gutenberg’s invention of a movable type printer established the ability for mass communication.
Some may ask why do we design? What actually makes our design work? When a designer can produce effortlessly the goal of design has been achieved. This is a universal principle and is not limited to neither digital media, handcraft nor with any other design method. Within today’s era, typography has come a long way in regards to its development and the technologies used for it. Aside from this things are still developing, however, some things will always remain the same. “Words in art are words. Letters in art are letters. Writing in art is writing” – Ad Reinhardt (1966) (Morley 2007: p6)
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...