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lil-tachyon · 2 years

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Who are some of your biggest influences in your art?

I’ve answered this question or something like it a couple times (1 2 3 4 + archive of interviews I’ve done with people) so I’ll hit the main points and then talk about some different stuff I’ve been into recently.

Favorite artists who have influenced me the most in no particular order:

Wayne Barlowe

Moebius

Mark Schultz

Simon Roy

Cosimo Galluzi

CM Kosemen

John Howe

James Gurney

Katsuya Terada

Hayao Miyazaki

I could name more, but those are the main people that I come back to, year after year.

Picture above by John Howe

General art movements/styles that have influenced me

19th century academic art, especially Orientalist painters (to be clear, I don’t endorse any of the harmful racial attitudes behind many of them, it’s just stuff that I saw as a kid that I thought looked cool and different and mysterious)

Ukiyo-e, Shin Hanga, Japanese woodcuts generally

Late 80s to 90s anime

Most comic art

Online spec bio art communities

Video game character/creature designs: Sonic, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Shining Force, etc

Art Nouveau

Fuck it, basically all Gilded Age, Fin de siècle, Belle Époque, late 19th/early 20th century European art movements that were more or less representational or illustrative

Picture above by Ludwig Deutsch. I had a bookmark of this painting for many years and I would often get distracted while reading and just stare at it.

I think I’ve talked about all that stuff before but if you want more details or specifics just ask!

For the last couple years, my really big influences have all been other artists I’ve met online. I mean I made a whole book with @ordheist and @bagb0ss. There’s a sort of loose cloud of (mostly) SFF artists that I’ve been really lucky to work and speak with and we all kinda know or know of each other or end up in the same Discord servers, or working on the same RPGs, etc. I’m not gonna link everybody but if you go through the interviews I’ve conducted for my newsletter or check out my side blog you’ll start to figure out who I mean (seriously a lot of these people are coming to tumblr now from twitter and I’ve been reblogging the hell out of them.) Seeing all the stuff my peers are putting out and talking with them is the source of like 90% of the ideas for my personal illustrations these days. It’s cool to be part of a community. I wish there were more opportunities to meet in person, but it’s still cool.

The other stuff that’s really been in my head lately is art that’s less illustrative, more abstract and graphical. Not pure abstraction mind you, but I’ve really been digging stuff that’s more about communicating a concept, feeling, piece of information, or idea than a narrative. More about design and composition than rendering. I recently read Philip Meggs’ History of Graphic Design and that’s turned me on to so new many artists and styles. In particular I’ve fallen in love with all the Vienna Secession guys, the Glasgow Style artists, and all the graphic and bookmaking ideas that came out of the Arts and Crafts movement. I don’t know how I want to work these ideas into my drawings yet and I haven’t had a lot of time to experiment lately but they're definitely bouncing around in my head.

Above from top to bottom: two pieces by Koloman Moser, two posters by Frances Macdonald, and two pages from The Glittering Plain, written and designed by William Morris.

There’s a whole lot of art that I really love but it rarely gets reflected in my drawings- American Regionalist paintings, gig posters, childrens’ storybooks, Eastern European Mosaics, Native American art, outsider art, colonial Americana …. One day I’ll find a way to synthesize it all.

Anyway, hope this is interesting/fun/informative and if you have any follow up questions don’t hesitate to ask!

-Logan

#art nouveau #illustration art #vienna secession #arts and crafts movement #glasgow style #send me an ask!

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limaocravoestudiocriativo · 1 month

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Design Gráfico: uma arte pré-histórica

Conforme o historiador Philip Meggs, em seu livro “The History of Graphic Design”, desde a pré-história o homem busca conceituar visualmente ideias, armazenar conhecimento gráfico a fim de transmitir informações. Com o passar do tempo, essa necessidade de comunicação foi se aprimorando, se transformando e iniciando as linguagens escritas, que são símbolos visuais. Os desenhos passaram a se tornar…

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eduebookstore · 5 months

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Meggs' History of Graphic Design 6th Edition PDF: Meggs History of Graphic Design 6th Edition, is the industry's unparalleled, award-winning reference. With over 1,400 high-quality images throughout, this visually stunning PDF guides you through a saga of artistic innovators, breakthrough technologies and groundbreaking developments that define the graphic design field. The initial publication of this PDF was heralded as a drafting landmark, and author Philip B. Meggs is credited with significantly shaping the academic field of graphic design. New Features in Meggs History 6e: Meggs presents compelling, comprehensive information enclosed in an exquisite visual format. The PDF text includes classic topics such as the invention of writing and alphabets, the origins of printing and typography, and the advent of postmodern design. Meggs History of Graphic Design sixth edition has also been updated to provide: The latest key developments in web, multimedia, and interactive design. Expanded coverage of design in Asia and the Middle East. Emerging design trends and technologies. Timelines framed in a broader historical context to help you better understand the evolution of contemporary graphic design. Extensive ancillary materials including an instructor's manual, expanded image identification banks, flashcards, and quizzes. Meggs History of Graphic Design 6th Edition PDF Goal: You can't master a field without knowing the history. Meggs' History of Graphic Design presents an all-inclusive, visually spectacular arrangement of graphic design knowledge for students and professionals. Learn the milestones, developments, and pioneers of the trade so that you can shape the future. NOTE: This sale only contains the ebook ISBN 978-1118772058 Meggs History of Graphic Design 6e By Philip B. Meggs, in PDF. No access codes included.

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greatebookstoreblog · 11 months

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Meggs' History of Graphic Design 6th Edition PDF: Meggs History of Graphic Design 6th Edition, is the industry's unparalleled, award-winning reference. With over 1,400 high-quality images throughout, this visually stunning PDF guides you through a saga of artistic innovators, breakthrough technologies and groundbreaking developments that define the graphic design field. The initial publication of this PDF was heralded as a publishing landmark, and author Philip B. Meggs is credited with significantly shaping the academic field of graphic design. New Features in Meggs History 6e: Meggs presents compelling, comprehensive information enclosed in an exquisite visual format. The PDF text includes classic topics such as the invention of writing and alphabets, the origins of printing and typography, and the advent of postmodern design. Meggs History of Graphic Design sixth edition has also been updated to provide: The latest key developments in web, multimedia, and interactive design. Expanded coverage of design in Asia and the Middle East. Emerging design trends and technologies. Timelines framed in a broader historical context to help you better understand the evolution of contemporary graphic design. Extensive ancillary materials including an instructor's manual, expanded image identification banks, flashcards, and quizzes. Meggs History of Graphic Design 6th Edition PDF Goal: You can't master a field without knowing the history. Meggs' History of Graphic Design presents an all-inclusive, visually spectacular arrangement of graphic design knowledge for students and professionals. Learn the milestones, developments, and pioneers of the trade so that you can shape the future. NOTE: This sale only contains the ebook ISBN 978-1118772058 Meggs History of Graphic Design 6e By Philip B. Meggs, in PDF. No access codes included.

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royalebook · 11 months

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instantebookmart · 11 months

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ebookshopsolution · 11 months

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matkinsarts102-02 · 1 year

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TYPO II: Blog Three

This week’s reading discussed the fundamental components of typographic communications (Carter, 2015). This chapter focused on the makeup of individual typographic letterforms, (such as apexes, serifs, terminals, and spurs). Each letter in the English alphabet has its own set of constructive vocabulary that until now, I had no clue even existed! Even letterform guidelines have their own names: the capline, meanline, x-height, baseline, and boardline.

The weight, width, and posture of letterform were also discussed, along with the historical classification of typefaces. Bakersville, which is one of my favorite fonts, became known as as “transitional font” as typeface moved from Old Style to Modern during the 18th century. The thick and thin strokes of the typeface was more pronounced than Old Style during the transitional period before adopting extreme thick/thin contrast in the Modern Style.

My professor made a comment in class a few weeks ago along the lines of “If you aren’t obsessing over typeface, you might need to reconsider your major” and, at the time, I thought it was funny. I didn’t realize how serious she was. Thankfully, as my knowledge and fascination on typeface grows, I realize she was 100% right...I can also say with confidence that I picked the right major, as menus and books and just about anything else with typeface catches my eye more than it did a month ago.

In the textbook, I really enjoyed Philip Megg’s interpretation of ‘The Bells’ by using the Univers typeface family.

I have also completed the DOGS! assignment and am very pleased about my outcome. I had a hard time in my sketches drawing in a “negative” sense...I don’t know if it will be a skill I’ll be able to master, but my final product looks just as I had planned in my head. I can’t wait to see what project is up next.

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rbolick · 4 years

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Books On Books Collection - Heavenly Monkey

Books On Books Collection – Heavenly Monkey

Francesco Griffo da Bologna: Fragments and Glimpses (2020)

Francesco Griffo da Bologna: Fragments and Glimpses (2020) Rollin Milroy H234 x W159 mm, 114 pages. Edition of 50, of which this is #32. Acquired from Heavenly Monkey, 4 November 2020. Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Several collections of Aldine volumes made themselves known around 2015, the 500th anniversaryof the death of Aldus…

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grad503-mathewhocking · 2 years

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RESEARCH

Ruder taught that typography's purpose was to communicate ideas through writing and especially in sans-serif. He clearly had a very mathematical approach towards design, emphasising grid systems, asymmetric layouts and objective clarity. Akzidenz Grotesk and Univers were two of his favourite fonts to use.

Poster design for the exhibition Glass art from Murano, 1955

The use of geometric shapes and flush/ragged text here is very evident of the way Ruder composed his designs. Some would argue that this is quite ‘simple’ but I think the cleanliness and architectural approach of it all is quite powerful. There is a reason Swiss Style is still so influential today - it’s just good, timeless design.

Gedränge, from his book Typographie, 1967

Promotional card, Eurax-Hydrocortisone Geigy, 1962

Poster design for the exhibition die gute form, 1958

Another major feature in Ruder’s work is contrast and, although he focused heavily on the idea of legible communication, he never seemed to fail aesthetically. His systematic approach is so well thought out and pleasing to the eye, it’s no wonder he maintained lengthy waiting lists during his time teaching.

Posters, date unknown

It wasn’t often that Ruder used illustrations or drawings in his work. He, along with many other Swiss designers preferred using photographs, because they presented you with what something actually looked like instead of any kind of falsehood. Again, we can see the power in contrast here, and with very minimal shapes, Ruder is able to convey his messages and pictures in a legible, but effective way.

Magazine cover, 1961

As per Philip B. Meggs, Ruder “developed sensitivity to negative or unprinted spaces, including the spaces between and inside letterforms.” Precision and proportion was a key part to his philosophy of type. This is probably one of my favourite designs of his. I really like the contrast of the off-white against the black text, the movement of everything is so interesting and the way in which he’s organised just two words (Typographic Monthly) for this magazine cover is so impressive.

References

https://alfalfastudio.com/2019/11/15/seven-facts-about-emil-ruder-the-man-behind-the-swiss-style/

https://www.typeroom.eu/in-grid-we-trust-emil-ruder-aka-the-iconic-pioneer-of-swiss-style

https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/emil-ruder

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bocceclub · 2 years

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if you have ever been required to read a book written by Philip B. Meggs you may be entitled to financial compensation

#type & image typographic specimens and meggs history of graphic design collectively took at least 15 years off my lifespan

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ia-designarchives · 3 years

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Graphic design USA 11

1990 :: New York :: American Institute of Graphic Arts

The AIGA graphic design annual for 1990. It shows the best designers in American graphic design from the period. It shows off the year's most significant designs, and also contains the winners of the American Institute of Graphic Design's 1990 awards.

Language: English

Publishers: American Institute of Graphic Arts and Watson-Guptill Publications

Designer: Anthonhy Russell

Associate Designer: Barbara Nieminen

Production Coordinator: Brian Stanlake

Writers: Steven Heller, Chuck Byrne, and Philip B. Meggs

#annuals #borrow only

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fboroughs · 4 years

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Week 2 Journal

The evolution of letter styles was based on a continuing search for simpler and faster letter form construction and easier writing.-Meggs’ History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs Alston W. Purvis. Half-uncial's were easy to write and had increased legibility because the visual differences between letters was better to understand. Celtic design is abstract and extremely complex, bright pure colors are used in close juxtaposition.The Celtic Designs are something most people would call Viking style, It has lots of twists.

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lukupiirileikki · 4 years

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1 Suunnittelijan roolit

Puheenjohtajana Lauri, kirjurina Linnea

Ensimmäiset lukulistallamme olevat tekstit olivat C.W. Millsin ”The Man in the Middle” (ensimmäistä kertaa julkaistu v. 1958) sekä Martha Scotfordin ”Messy History vs. Neat History: Toward an Expanded View on Women in Graphic Design” (1994).

The Man in the Middle (C.W. Mills, 1958)

C. Wright Mills maalaa tekstissään kuvaa (yhdysvaltalaisesta) suunnittelijasta tärkeänä osana, mitä hän itse nimittää ”kulttuuriseksi laitteistoksi” (en. ”cultural apparatus”). Suunnittelija elää ristiriitaisessa maailmassa, jossa taide ja työ sekoittuvat, ja joutuu työssään kohtaamaan kaksi historiallisten muutosten myötä tapahtunutta asiaa: taloudellisen painotuksen vaihtumisen tuotannosta levittämiseen, sekä taiteen, tieteen ja oppimisen tuominen kapitalistisen kansantalouden ja nationalistisen valtion valtainstituutioiden alaisuuteen.

Yhdysvalloissa on valloillaan kapitalistinen mainos- ja markkinakulttuuri, joka on räjähtänyt käsiin toisen maailmansodan jälkeen. Koska kapasiteetti tuottaa yli tarpeidemme on ylitetty, on muodostunut tarve ja vastaus turhalle uudistukselle (”Silly Designs for Silly Needs”, technological, artificial ja status obsolescence).

Suunnittelija toimii tässä kapitalistisena välikätenä kuluttajan ja tuottajan välillä, joten Mills kuvaa suunnittelijan aivottomaksi ja ahneeksi statukselle, jonka ”taloudellinen tehtävä on myydä” (Millsin mukaan mainostaminen on myös valehtelua tai manipulointia, ks. lähteet ja ”—commercial fraud—”). Suunnittelija on myös joko huippuja tai ei kukaan. Tämän mahdollistamana markkinat luo suunnittelijalle vastaavan oravanpyörän kuin muotiin liitetty kuvaus ”panic for status”: Saadakseen harjoittaa taidettaan ammattina, suunnittelijan täytyy tienata rahaa, jota hän saa töistään saamalla kuuluisuudella, ja sitä kautta toisilla töillä.

Millsin mukaan ratkaisu tähän kaikkeen on käsityöläisyys arvona. Ideaalisesti se tukee luovaa työtä ja mahdollistaa itsenäisyyttä. Suunnittelijasta (nyttemmin kai taiteilija) tulee itsenäinen ja vapaa työskentelemään omista lähtökohdistaan. Motiiveiksi muodostuvat vain tehtävä esine, taiteilijuus ja käsityöläisyys.

C. Wright Mills oli ammatiltaan sosiologi, kirjailija ja sosiologian professori, joka kritisoi teksteissään Yhdysvaltoja, kapitalismia ja modernia yhteiskuntaa. Hänen kuuluisimpiin teoksiinsa kuuluvat mm. ”The New Men of Power: America’s Labor Leaders” (1948), ”The Power Elite” (1956) sekä ”Sosiologinen mielikuvitus” (1959). Mills ei määrittele Yhdysvaltoja todelliseksi demokratiaksi, vaan maan hallituksen oligarkiaksi ja homogeeniseksi, valtaan uskovaksi eliitiksi, joka käyttää massamedian voimaa voimistaakseen omaa otettaan politiikasta (ja täten pysyäkseen vallassa).

Mills lähestyi siis suunnittelijan elämää ulkopuolisen näkökulmasta. Sen sijaan taustalla olevana teemana näkyy kritiikki markkinavoimia kohtaan. Nähdäkseni hyvin kyyninen, mutta totuuden siemenen sisältävä (itse ainakin tuskailen suunnittelun kaupallisuuden kanssa) näkökulma yhdysvaltalaisesta suunnittelijasta johtaa juurensa juuri tähän turhaumaan. Millsin mukaan moderni aika antaa yhä vähemmän ja vähemmän tilaa itsenäisyydelle ja vaihtelulle (koska vallassa olevat ovat muodostaneet normeja ja standardeja, joita noudattamalla monimuotoisuus vähenee). Luonnollisena jatkumona, koska suunnittelija toimii tässä välikätenä, saa hänkin osakseen kritiikkiä.

Itse en näe suunnittelijaa välttämättä niin aivottomana ja kahtiajakoisena surkuttelijana kuin Mills. En myöskään halua uskoa, että taiteilijat yleensä suunnittelijaksi opiskellessaan tähtäisivät pääasiassa työhön ja näkisivät opiskelun vain välineenä (ks. lähteet).

On hyvin todennäköistä, että suuri osa suunnittelijoista tulee jossakin välissä tekemään mainostyötä, mutta toivoisin, että ainakin osa tekisi töitä omien arvojensa nojalla: mainostamalla kulttuuria, nuoriso-, aktivismi- tai vähemmistötoimintaa, suunnittelemalla paremmin toimivia, yleishyödyllisiä nettisivuja, sovelluksia ja muita tuotteita, taittamalla ja kuvittamalla kirjallisuutta, joka vastaa arvoja. Millsin mukaan koko suunnittelijan tarkoitus on myydä, mutta itse haluan uskoa, että suunnittelijan tarkoitus on suunnitella. Toivon ja haaveilen, että osa meistä löytää keinoja käyttää luovuuttamme suunnitellakseen kokonaisuuksia, jotka mahdollistaisivat epäkaupallisemman tavan kerätä elantonsa.

Pelastus käsityöläisyyden kautta on nähdäkseni rinnastettavissa nimenomaan itsenäisyyteen: käsityöläisenä suunnittelija pääsee irti välikätenä toimimisesta, eikä näin ollen ole samankaltaisten hierarkioiden hallittavissa kuin muut modernit työntekijät. Tämä tuntuu saavuttamattomalta. On tietenkin mahdollista, että joku saa omilla taiteellisilla lahjoillaan tienattua vain taiteilijana toimiessaan, mutta harva onnistuu siinä – etenkään ennen kuolemaansa.

Pohdittavaa:

•Onko suunnittelijan työ riippuvainen tekijän kuuluisuudesta, ja jos, niin kuinka paljon?

•Onko Millsin kuvaama ideaali käsityöläisyys mahdollista 2020-luvun maailmassa?

•Onko suunnittelijan työ automaattisesti ja täysin kyseenalaistamatta kaupallista toimintaa?

Messy History vs. Neat History: Toward an Expanded View on Women in Graphic Design, (Martha Scotford, 1994)

Martha Scotford toimi graafisen suunnittelun professorina College of Design-opistossa North Carolinassa, josta hän eläköityi 2013. Ennen opettamista hän oli toiminut kirjasuunnittelijana, ja on kirjoittanut useita kirjoja (ks. linkit). Toisin sanoen Scotford kertoo tekstissään graafisen suunnittelun historiasta naisten näkökulmasta, mutta lisäksi kirjoittaa itse graafisen suunnittelijan näkökulmasta (toisin kuin Mills, joka käsitteli aihetta sosiologin lähtökohdista).

Graafisen suunnittelun historiasta ei voi saada kokonaisvaltaista kuvaa niin pitkään, kun huomioon on otettu vain yksi näkökulma, varsinkin kun kyseessä on patriarkaalinen, eli valtaapitävä normi, jonka kautta historiaa tarkastellaan.

Tekstissä termillä ”Neat history” Scotford tarkoittaa konventionaalista historiaa, jossa fokus on yhden yksilön (yleensä miehen) suunnittelutyössä. ”Messy history” etsii, opiskelee ja sisällyttää monia vaihtoehtoisia lähestymistapoja ja aktiviteettejä, jotka ovat usein osana naispuolisten suunnittelijoiden ammattielämää.

Naisilla on niin taiteen historiassa kuin yleensäkin mm. keksintöjen ja tieteen historiassa ollut huono ja toiseutettu asema miehiin nähden. Naisilta on evätty oikeuksia ja alun perin naisten keksimiä keksintöjä pidetään miesten keksimänä, koska naiset eivät ole saaneet teoistaan, saavutuksistaan ja keksinnöistään ansaitsemaansa kunniaa. Scotfordin mukaan siinä missä miehet opiskelivat tullakseen taiteilijoiksi, naiset opiskelivat tullakseen päteviksi, toisin sanoen naisten piti olla päteviä naisia ollakseen rinnastettavissa keskivertomieheen. Toiseuttaminen ilmenee Scotfordin tekstissä paitsi patriarkaatin määrittelemissä keinoissa työskennellä alalla, myös tavassa väheksyä työtehtävää, jonka ”kuka tahansa (lue nainen) voi tehdä”.

Muun tekstin ohella tässä tulee esiin myös naisten ymppääminen yhdeksi ryhmäksi. Tätä voi verrata esim. massamedian mainoksiin, joissa esiintyvä valkoinen mies edustaa tai symboloi ihmistä, musta mies mustia ihmisiä, nainen naisia –tai äitejä tai tyttäriä, jolloin hän on vielä määriteltynä suhteestaan johonkuhun toiseen– ja mitä kauemmaksi valtanormeista mennään, sen spesifimmäksi edustettu ihmisryhmä pelkästään ihmisyyden sijaan tulee.

Esimerkiksi hyvin tunnetussa teoksessaan ”A History of Graphic Design” (1983), Philip Meggs suhtautuu ongelmallisesti naisten sisällyttämiseen osaksi graafisen suunnittelun historiaa: 15:stä naispuolisesta (lue: naisoletettu), mainitusta suunnittelijasta yhdeksän töitä oli esillä (toisessa painoksessa luvut olivat 31 mainittua naista, joista 23 töitä oli esillä). Luvut ovat harmillisia, sillä miespuolisten suunnittelijoiden töitä ja niistä vironneita keskusteluja oli satoja. Tämän naisten lukuun laskematta jättämisen lisäksi Meggs ei noteeraa suoraan poc-suunnittelijoiden kirjastaan pois jättämistä.

Scotford kirjoittaa sotkuisesta historiasta vastakohtana siistille, konventionaaliselle: se on yhteistyön tekemistä pieniä yrityksiä ja paikallisia aatteita varten, ei massatuottona eikä osana valtavirtaa, vaan pienelle ja spesiaalille yleisölle. Se on henkilökohtaisempaa ja ilmaisuvoimaisempaa.

(Tekstissä tulee usein esille sana ”ghettoizing”, joka on minulle vieras, eikä ainakaan tällä kertaa vielä ihan kokonaisuudessaan avautunut.)

Itseäni puhuttelee valtavasti marginalisoitujen ihmisten underground-yhteisölliset tavat tehdä taidetta, sillä koen sosiaalisessa mediassa itse olevani tiiviissä ja laajassa, eri lailla marginalisoitujen ihmisten yhteisössä. Monet siellä ovat saaneet informaatiota ja/tai vertaistukea esimerkiksi mielenterveysongelmien tai erilaisten ihmisten kohtaaman institutionalisoituneen syrjinnän kanssa jonkun toisen taiteen kautta.

Mielestäni on mielenkiintoista ajatella, että teorian tasolla Millsin teorian käsityöläiset olisivat todennäköisemmin Scotfordin tekstin naisia, sillä tämä ”sotkuinen historia” on nimenomaan tuota riippumattomuutta. Varsinkin Millsin aikaan se kuitenkaan tuskin toteutui käytännössä useinkaan, varsinkaan naispuolisten suunnittelijoiden suhteen.

Pohdittavaa:

•Mitkä tapahtumat, jos mitkään ovat mielestänne mahdollistaneet varsinkin aiemmasta taiteilijanormista poikkeavien henkilöiden (naiset, ihmiset taidepiirien ulkopuolelta, vähävaraiset) pääsyn taiteen ja suunnittelun alalle?

•Mikä suunnittelu- ja taiteen kentässä on tasa-arvoista nykyaikana? Mikä ei?

–Ensimmäisen lukupiirin pj, Lauri

LÄHTEET:

Mills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuU59V9qvT4

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills

Scotford:

Scotfordin kirjoista: http://www.marthascotford.org/

https://design.ncsu.edu/people/scotford/

https://halloffemmes.com/hof_contributors/martha-scotford-2/

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graphicdesignvictim · 4 years

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journal 1/ chapters 1-4 / the prologue to graphic design

initial thoughts

When I first received the textbook, the 6th edition of Meggs' History of Graphic Design (written by Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. Purvis) in the mail, I was immediately stressed out. I was unfortunately gifted the trait of being ultra stressed about a lot of things, but school always won first place in amount of stress. (My freshman year of high school I was so stressed I was getting a lot of gray hairs...so embarrassing!) In general, history has been my least favorite subject, and therefore was the subject I struggled with the most. Although I am passionate about graphic design, I wasn't super psyched to be reading about its history. Sorry Professor!

1 / the invention of writing

These terms! I believe I have only heard of pictographs and hieroglyphics before reading this. To read that there's petroglyphs, ideographs, cuneiform, and rebus writing. Wow.

"The symbol for sun...began to represent ideas such as "day" and "light"." (pg.9, Meggs.): You know, I never considered that. On my essay in quiz 1, I discussed how there were would be too many characters to represent every word, and that is why having an alphabet is more advantageous. Though I agree with my argument, I wonder how many symbols would have dual or more meanings, as that is the case for many words in the modern English language. For example, the word "die" could mean the verb of ceasing to exist, or it could mean the noun of a dot-marked playing cube / singular form of dice. So in cuneiform terms, would the symbol for "die" [noun] represent the idea of death? Probably not, but maybe with crazy English it might.

Whenever quarantine ends, I wonder how hard it would be to make my own cylinder seal. After reading this portion, I found the urge to make one. Obviously with modern technology, making a personalized stamp wouldn't be that hard, and I have seen some DIY artists make their wax seals. I think it would be fantastically ridiculous to have an obnoxious stone seal to go around "marking my territory" on.

Ah papyrus. I feel stupid for admitting this, but I didn't actually know papyrus was a plant. I didn't think it was not a plant, however I just never thought of it that deeply. I'm going to look up what it looks like right now. [...] Oh, okay. I suppose today is the appropriate day to say that it sort of looks like thin marijuana? Anyway, speaking of papyrus, the reason I never gave it much thought to it being a plant is because I have been too focused on everyone's hatred for the Papyrus typeface. Why does everyone hate it? I haven't found myself wanting to use it (yet), but I definitely feel this social pressure that I'm not allowed to use it.

I find superstition fascinating. I think if I could meet anyone from the past I would want to meet the illustrator of the Book of the Dead. That would be a morbidlly cool job to have, just feeling that some random guy named Bob has had enough days lived. AND WITH THE POWER OF THE PEN you kill hi- I mean let him enter the afterlife.

2 / alphabets

The definition of an alphabet is definetly something I have not thought about in depth. This definition makes sense, but I always took it for granted in terms of- well I know English, there's an alphabet. I tried to learn Spanish, there's an alphabet... it's almost the same except they're pronounced differently and there's another n- ñ. I tried to learn Japanese, and there's almost twice as many characters (as English), 2 for each sound.

Fascinating to learn that Hebrew and Arabic writing was the evolution of the Phoenician alphabet. I can very much see the resemblances. But it's crazier that different cultures took it in one direction, and then the Greeks took it in another direction, and the Romans took that alphabet in a completely different direction. It blows my mind to see how far we've come.

Ah yes, serifs. I love the whole argument over whether they originated at cleanup marks or sharpening-the-brush-tip marks. Can't we just be glad they exist? (I want to believe it's the sharpening origin, it sounds more efficient.)

Vellum paper feels amazing; no wonder it has to be made from that smooth baby skin. Yikes.

Scrolls are also an obnoxious thing I'd like to have. For instance, I probably will have my will written in a large scroll to represent how dramatic I am.

As someone who used to be obsessed with Kpop, I think it is absolutely amazing that Hangul is such a technical alphabet. It reminds me of how humans have that disk they threw into outer space teaching aliens how to speak English via the shape of your mouth and lips and what position your tongue should go for certain sounds. Obviously this is the origin and is way more impressive especially at such an early point in our history. It makes me appreciate the language and those that write in it much more.

3 / the asian contribution

I appreciated that this chapter starts off crediting the Chinese with creations forcertain things that I remember throughout middle school and high school, history class always seemed to gloss over. Like where did these Europeans know which way was north and to figure they could kill others by putting some powder in their guns. Paper also always came out of nowhere, but I'm glad I learned its origin sooner than reading this.

I have learned that Chinese calligraphy was more important that painting before, but in a different way. As I'm in a lot of art classes, I was taught that Chinese painters would usually also be calligraphers and viewers could tell that the same person who painted the painting wrote the calligraphy as the style of the strokes would match. Thinking about it more now, it would make sense why it would be more important as calligraphy was something you had to memorize AND learn where as with painting, anyone could technically learn how to visualize.

Referencing my earlier rant about cylinder seals, chops are also something I enjoy and would want to have one of my own. Personally I like cooler colors better, so maybe I would choose to have a blue ink instead... but I know that's not the point. I think this would make more sense to be the origin of printing as it is constructing something once and being able to reproduce it over and over just with the use of ink.

The Chinese also invented playing cards! How interesting that they were called sheet dice and a unique aspect of graphic design that you never realize until you actually think about it.

I agree with the authors, it is odd that languages with thousands of characters would decide to use such a tedious method like movable type. On the bright side, we wouldn't have our lovely lazy Susan's if it weren't for this tedious type!

4 / illuminated manuscripts

As someone who appreciates shiny things (my weakness is holographic) it was exciting to learn about illuminated manuscripts. I'm just imagining the gold leaf making the page glow from a couple meters away. Those kind of things make me like to pretend stuff is magical. And for your title to be an illuminator? Yes please. AND to learn that these were insanely portable for a lazy human like me? Perfection.

Earlier this year I learned about ascenders and descenders in typography, so it was nice to know their origin as well as how lowercase and uppercase letters came from minuscule and majuscule.

I am thankful for the Celtics for deciding to put spaces between words. Reading (especially something I'm not interested in) would be a much more painful task ifeverythinglookedlikethis. No wonder humans were evolving so slowly before this point. Howdoyouknowwhenonewordendsandanotherbegins?

All of these illustrations next to the text on the manuscripts make me wonder if they were still using hieroglyphics, would they even bother to illustrate these giant paintings or would it seem (or at least appear) to look repetitive? I particularly enjoy the page from Ormesby Psalter, a Gothic manuscript on page 61; it's very beautifully done.

While I'm not a religious person, I think the concept of aniconism is very interesting. Also how you could view illustrations of living things, but only inside. Can't deny that their commitment to an intricate and complex design in the Islamic manuscripts were not short of beauty.

The Limbourg brothers' story was interesting to me: how they were all illuminated book designers, how they all died before finishing their most well known project, just short of when the duc de Berry died.

This chapter was the roughest for me. I feel that it was a bit long for my tastes and it gave me a bit of anxiety that with it being so long that the professor told us to focus more on chapter 1 than this chapter. That's my issue though and it was still pretty insightful.

post thoughts

I understand the reviews for this book that I read, about how the writing is something I'm going to have to get used to. It is definitely informative, but oh my it is a lot. Will definetly not be doing this journal so late on Sunday night. Sorry professor...

Source: Meggs' History of Graphic Design, 6th Edition, Philip B. Meggs and Alston W. PurvisJohn Wiley & Sons publishers.

#graphic design

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