Module 3: Fonts are Fontastic!

A major theme I discovered in my reading for Module 3, especially in chapters 7 and 8 of Megg's History of Graphics Design, is the evolution of typographic fonts throughout time. Before reading this module, I've never put much thought into how fonts were developed and the intentions behind the typographic artists in their design. I learned that there is actually a lot of thought put into fonts, ranging from the use of mathematical symmetry to increase functionality (e.g. readability, spacing, etc.), to ornamentation and style (e.g. serifs, curves, stylish elements, etc.). It's simply amazing how like any other art and creative expression, fonts are just another medium of this.

Also just as how paintings have evolved through history into many different styles (e.g. impressionism, cubism, surrealism, realism, etc.), fonts also went through a similar process of evolution. For example, we see the rococo era usher in fonts that emanate the style of the time. We see its floral and intricate "S- and C- curves with scrollwork, tracery, and plant forms derived from nature classical and oriental art, and medieval sources." (Meggs, p. 122-123).

Contrasted to the rococo style was a font that existed opposite range in design and functionality. Instead of stylistic and "fancy" elements, we see Caslon's type designs not at all fashionable or innovative. Megg describes his font as having "outstanding legibility and study texture that made them 'comfortable' and 'friendly to the eye.'" (Meggs, 127).

Caslon font, source: http://digitalarts.uconn.edu/fall2012/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Caslon-Font-Sheet.gif

After the reading I decided to browse through all the different fonts stored in my Adobe Photoshop software and saw many of the same fonts covered in my reading appearing in the list. From Baskerville to Garamond, I can now recall what I learned about each font's history, development, and design elements. I now am equipped to undertand why each of these fonts exist, what they can be used for, and apply it to my publishing works. I'm glad that I now don't need to choose fonts randomly as a result of my better sense and understanding of each font's stylistic and functional components.

I decided to explore more about how fonts are developed today by doing a Google search and came across this article in the Scientific American about how a font was designed to help dyslexics read. This font, called "Dyslexie" was designed by a graphic designer named Christian Boer from the Netherlands  (by the way, is a country with a history of font development). The purpose of the font is to "decrease the number of errors made by dyslexics while reading." For example, the Boer tweaked how the "d" and "b" letters appear to make them more recognizable, as dyslexics often have a hard time distinguishing between these two letters due to their similarity in appearance  Another technique used was to enlarge the openings of the "a" and "c" letters and enlarging the tails of "g" and "y." He claimed to have spent roughly 15 hours for each letter he developed. And it appears his work paid off, as participants from a University of Twente study commented that the font allowed them to read with improved accuracy and it took them longer before they got tired reading.

Dyslexie font, source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-font-helps-dyslexics-read

It's amazing how not only can font design be used for stylistic and practical purposes, but it can also help people who suffer from conditions perform better. All this makes me want to further explore the subject of font design and be better equipped at selecting fonts with the right intention and use for my graphics design work.

Module 2: The Very First Graphic Designs

I didn't find it very difficult to choose the exploration topic for this week's field journey entry. Between the development of various alphabets, written languages, and illustrated manuscripts as forms of visual communications, the cave markings were the early graphics designs that interested me the most. These prehistoric petroglyphs were the earliest ever graphic designs that are still preserved today in various caves throughout the world. I got a chance to visit some of these caves in France during a trip I made in July for a friend's wedding.

Me standing in front of the entrance of Font-de-Gaume, cave in southern France containing paintings dating from around 17000 BC.

When I went to the Dordogne region in Southern France, I didn't think much of visiting the cave paintings, as I was more interested in the castles, food, and wine. But my friend convinced me to go two caves and told me of their historical significance. I've ready about the caves at Lascaux in my history textbooks, but never really explored prehistoric human markings in more detail. Because the caves at Lascaux were now closed to the public and only a replica exists for visits, we wanted to see the real deal. So We chose to visit a cave called Font-de-Gaume near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil. The cave contains one of the earliest examples of prehistoric polychrome cave paintings and engravings, dating back to around 17000 BC (during the Magdalénien period). These were really old graphics designs, the earliest I've ever seen live not reproduced in a textbook!

Artist depiction of Cro-Magnon artists painting in Font-de-Gaume, by Charles R. Knight. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Font-de-Gaume.jpg

The tour guide at the cave said there are 230 figures currently recorded in the cave, but possibly more that have not been discovered. They are images of 80 bison, around 40 horses, and more than 20 mammoths. These are polychrome paintings because they use multiple colors or various red tones and black. These images are considered to be one of the best examples of prehistoric cave paintings that are still open to visitors. And to connect this to what I learned in my reading, these are "pictographs" because they are pictures representing the actual things being depicted. In this case, various animals.

The second cave I visited was the famous Pech Merle cave also in Southern France. This cave is more than a mule long and contains numerous murals of that date from the Gravettian culture around 25000 to 16000 BC. The image that fascinated me the most were the cave paintings of the human hands. It almost looked like the artist placed their hand on the rock and "spray-painted" the outline of it.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Pech_Merle_main.jpg/429px-Pech_Merle_main.jpg

After visiting the caves, and reading the textbook, I decided to do a bit more exploration on my own about the purposes of these designs. The Wikipedia article on cave paintings tells us the exact purpose is still unknown. Megg's History of Graphic Design says that "these early pictures were made for survival and for utilitarian and ritual purposes." (p. 7). Other theories suggest that they were not decorations, but ways to communicate with others. Graphics designs is a form of visual communications, and perhaps, these earliest forms were used to communicate to both living and dead (as ceremonial or magical functions).

I also found a very interesting article recently that suggests some of these graphics may also be the earliest forms of animation. It's interesting that even prehistoric man can conjure up moving graphics! The example below shows that these images may have been created by "cartoon-like techniques to give the impression that wild beasts were trotting or running across cave walls."

Source: http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef01630642ce83970d-pi

Wow! Who thought graphic design wouldn't be a part of a leisurely vacation in Southern France or such a fascinating part in the foundation of human history.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-de-Gaume

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pech_Merle

http://news.discovery.com/history/prehistoric-movies-120608.html

Module 1: First Impressions

I found it difficult to understand the usefulness of this exercise upon first impression. But I was soon proven wrong as I completed a visual study through each picture of Megg's History of Graphic Design text book. Studying the series of images gave me a better insight into the the concept of graphic design and its vast history that I could not obtained if someone had just explained it to me in mere words.

The history of graphic design has been captured since the prehistoric paintings deep in the cave of Lascaux to the digital media in web-based graphics accessed today from our desktop and mobile devises.  Browsing through the series of pictures made it evident to me that graphic design has been an expression of man since man first begin communicating. It's  amazing that graphic design is still being used commonly today. We see it everywhere - in ads, magazines, movie posters, company logos, and even on our clothes.

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/index.php

http://hellerbooks.com/docs/news.html

I've learned that graphic design is not only an art, in the sense that it is expression of creativity, but it is also a medium of practical communication used to convey the simplest statements. It has been found in a wide range of mediums, from simple typography in print to a brilliantly illustrated manuscript painted on a Renaissance tapestry. It's awesome to me that even the characters of text seen in this blog can be considered graphic design.

Simply put, I'm not just studying the history of graphic design, I'm studying the history of man and how we communicate. 

Browsing through the pictures also allowed me to see the various patterns and themes of graphic design expressed throughout time. Graphic design appears to have first started out as pictures, then pictures used to represent words. As man became more sophisticated, the pictures became symbols and illustrations began emerging and a sense of creative expression flourished. The different styles that emerged represented the essence of each particular culture that it came from. The repeating patterns found in Islamic graphic design, for example, expressed the infinite and consistant nature of God. Then we see it flourishing during the industrial revolution with the explosion of mass production. We were able to mass produce media like no other time in human history and this made graphics design easy to create and more accessible to the masses.

The history of graphic design will open the door for me to a better understanding of humanity. I'm super excited about what I will learn in this course as I dive deeper.