Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
language. Pictographs begin (similar to this model found velop a system that connects in a detail from a list of kings'
evolution into nonrepresen- in a burial vault), which could twenty-two spoken sounds names found in the temple of
tational marks. At about the triple the weight pulled by a with corresponding written Rameses II at Abydos.
same time, Sumerians build single ox. symbols.
3 The historical
development of space:
six timelines
Humans began communicating verbally
and through sign language about 150,000 years ago in
East Africa. Writing grew out of painting: cave painting
as early as c25,000 bc (left) represented ideas as well
as events. | As the idea of private property took hold in
the area from present-day Egypt east to Iraq in c4,000 bc,
taxes very quickly followed. Sumerian priests expected
accurate accounting of production in all areas, so picto-
520 bc Sigean Marble written 500 bc 1¼" fragment of an 230 bc Egyptian hieratic script 196 bc The Rosetta Stone,
in ancient Greek boustrophe- administrative record of the (left side) and hieroglyphics or found in 1799 by Napoleon
don (back-and-forth reading). payment of 600 quarts of an “sacred writing” (right side) on and translated in 1822, it is
This begins “I am the gift of unknown commodity to five vil- a fragment of a papyrus scroll. the key to understanding two
Phanodicus …” lages near Persepolis, Persia. ancient Egyptian languages.
1200 bc Sumerian cuneiform Several writing systems symbols to spoken sounds, 842 bc First•use•of•punctuati
(from Latin cuneus: “wedge”) evolved in parallel in communi- and that system was adopted on•are•word-separating•dots•
uses simplified pictures in- ties along the eastern edge of by their trading partners to as•shown•above. Mostwriting,
scribed in clay tablets. the Mediterranean. The Phœni- the west and eventually by the though,runswordstogether.
cians’ system linked written Romans in about 700 bc.
GREEK ROMAN
800bc 400bc 300bc 100bc graphs or “image drawings” were invented using images
for each category and simple markings for quantities. |
Systems quickly grew to more than 2,000 glyphs, which
could be combined to communicate abstract ideas. This
system took some years to learn, and those who did
learn it rose to high ranks in society. The images later
grew to represent more complex ideas, ideographs, and
a new class of people was created to learn the system
and write in clay tablets. This was considered a necessary
but not particularly aspirational task for the aristocracy, Cuneiform was deciphered by
where memory was much more highly valued. | Shortly Henry C. Rawlinson using the
thereafter, Egyptian priests developed their own pictorial c500bc Rock of Behistun in Iran.
c150 bc The Greeks and Romans, ad 114 Trajan’s Column, the column, both wartime (those ad c200 Scrolls, in use since
having adopted the Phœni- carved letters of which are con- are the vanquisheds’ severed about 400 bc, begin to be
cian system, add vowels and sidered the finest roman letters heads being given to Trajan) replaced as a substrate by the
achieve even type color. ever drawn, were first painted and more peaceful achieve- codex, or paged book made
then chiseled. Elsewhere on the ments are commemorated. from animal skins.
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1478 Renaissance design us- 1500 In the first fifty years of 1517 Early grid use in G.P. de The master printer checks a
ing white space perfects page printing, 35,000 books pro- Brocar’s Polyglot Bible accommo- proof while his assistant pro-
proportions. This example by duced a total of 8–12 million dates five languages. Such an duces another impression as
the Alvise brothers is among copies. The average run of “in- undertaking requires exceptional printed sheets dry on the line.
the first to use ornaments. cunabula” books is 250 copies. fluency and printing skill.
c1760 John Baskerville develops c1790 Lithography (“stone 1826 With photography’s 1890 Marginal notes placed
smoother paper and ink and a writing”) is invented, based on invention and inherent realism, logically and intimately near
typeface, with pronounced thicks the idea that water repels oil- printers improve continuous their reference points liven the
and thins, that takes advantage based inks. Its results are more tones. Photoengraving is intro- pages of Whistler’s English book.
of these refinements. subtle than letterpress. duced in 1871.
Lithography
Letterpress
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1959 The New York School, 1975 The 1960s and 70s 1979 Self-conscious design 1987 April Greiman builds on
beginning just after World War are decades of searching for guides the 1970s and 80s, as Weingart’s work, adding video
II, brings a period of extraordi- symbolism, as shown by Milton in this Wolfgang Weingart and computer references and
nary vibrancy. Glaser’s logo. “Swiss Punk” poster. geometric shapes as decorative
elements.
1992 Typographic deconstruc- 1998 Web site design becomes 2002 The computer allows 2010 More than ever, it seems
tion, the battle between legibility the hot discipline through the design from any era – like using noticeable design is done off
and maximum visual impact, is ’90s, largely mirroring print de- these old metal types – but the computer. It uses fresh material
explored by many, led by Nev- sign. Web-like wayfinding is ap- purpose of a document remains rather than the same premade
ille Brody’s ’90s work. plied to multipage print design. to be read. digital pieces as everyone else.
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c110 Stone-carvers invent serifs c1450 Gutenberg makes the c1450 Gutenberg’s font has c1460 Konrad Sweynheim brings
by finishing strokes with a per- first movable type, styled after 290 characters, including movable type to Rome, where
pendicular hit. Textura, the dark handlettering many ligatures and contrac- he adopts the region’s preferred
of his region. tions to justify lines. Carolingian writing style.
1818 Giambattista Bodoni’s c1885 Andrew Tuer’s function- 1925 Paul Renner’s initial 1930-1960 Technical improve-
hardened “punches,” which al descenderless typeface for sketch for what would become ments in metal typesetting
were used to make female use “where economy of space his Futura typeface shows a abound. Use of sans serif types
molds for molten lead copies. is an object - as in the crowded search for a new formal unity widens. Phototype is invented
columns of a newspaper." among its letterforms. and develops.
1500-1800 Letters become c1815 Square serif types intro- 1817 William Caslon ıv was made it financially viable in
sharper, change stylistically, duced, soon became known as the first to develop a type 1847 (right). Many typefound-
and are more even in overall “Egyptian” because Egyptian without serifs (left), but it was ers quickly followed his lead
tone, taking advantage of ink discoveries happened to be Vincent Figgins who took the and created their own sans
and paper improvements. wildly popular at the time. idea, named it “sans serif,” and serif types.
1960s Phototype, developed 1970-2000 Digital types arrive, 2000 Emoticons are invented 2010 New letterforms are
in the 1920s, leads to tighter putting type design and manu- to add tone of voice to written invented when new communi-
letterspacing in the 1960s facture in the hands of anyone messages, which can be mis- cation needs become evident.
because metal “shoulders” no with a computer. Early types understood. They are combina- This “SarcMark” says “sarcasm”
longer exist. require 300dpi optimization. tions of keystroke characters. and replaces some emoticons.
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c15,000 bc Identifying marks 3,500 bc The first identifiers c1200 Merchants’ marks are 1282 The earliest watermark,
have been around since the were Sumerian stamps (A). Three widely used to mark packages. a symbol embedded directly
beginning of human writing. thousand years later, cylinder Being diagrammatic, they com- into paper fibers to indicate the
Here, paint was spit-sprayed seals, rolled across soft clay, municate across dialects and paper’s maker, is Italian.
around the artist’s own hand. showed stories as signatures (B). languages, even to illiterates.
Timeline 3: Logos
A logo is a mark that identifies an individual or busi-
ness. Logos have a rich and fascinating history. “Logos” Symbols
Representational signs
Realistic images of objects is Greek for “word,” and it is a term that is widely and
incorrectly used to indicate all corporate trademarks.
Marks may be symbols (marks without type), lettermarks Lettermarks
Pictograms (letters form the name), logos (a pronounceable word), or
Descriptive images of objects
combination marks (symbol and logo together). | What
is right with your logo’s design? Is it smart, beautiful,
Logos
Symbolic signs witty, elegant*, original, well designed, and appropriate?
Pictograms with new meanings Does it use negative space well? Is it, in a word, good**?
A good logo must be good on its own design merits – it
Combination marks
Ideograms
Nonrepresentational ideas
1933 Lucian Bernhard, a Ger- 1971 Carolyn Davidson, a stu- 1972 A logo is a mark that is
man designer now best known dent at Portland State Universi- a pronounceable word, like
Diagrammatic signs for his typefaces, creates a ty, is paid $35 to design a logo Exxon. Shown here is Raymond
Nonrepresentational, arbitrary body of lettermarks for compa- for a new sneaker company. Loewy’s first sketch, done in
nies in Europe and the U.S. 1966.
Synonimic signs
Images with the same referent
1978 Abstraction is used in 1989 Stefan Geissbuhler de- 1993 A modern mark notable 2006 Logos need regular up-
symbols when the companies signs the Time Warner mark. for its elegant N, W, and de- dating to be contemporaneous.
they describe are not easily il- The final is a hand rendering scriptive arrow created by The earliest mark here (top
lustrated. This is for a Brazilian because the computer-drawn negative space. left) is from 1901.
banking group. studies were too sterile.
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Timeline 5: Magazines
Periodicals evolved from leaflets to pamphlets to
almanacs until 1663, nearly two hundred years after the
invention of movable type, when the first true magazine
offering specific information for a specific audience was a
German monthly, Edifying Monthly Discussions. This was “Advertising made magazines
a collection of summaries on art, literature, philosophy, larger – because ads need
and science. | There are two basic types of magazines: large display space; it made
trade magazines of highly specialized information, magazines use illustrations;
Broom was one of many artist- which are usually mailed to readers; and consumer it required color printing
led periodicals in the 1920s magazines, which cater to wider audiences. With the and better paper; and it
and 1930s “on the vanguard of growth of magazines’ Internet sites, readership of print required huge circulations.”
an intellectual movement.” M.F. Agha (1896–1978)
1953 Bradbury Thompson over- 1964 George Lois creates 1984 Emigre magazine publish- 1992 Nearly illegible type
laps the four process colors as series of covers for Esquire es on the Macintosh platform. defines Ray Gun’s brand. David
flat tints in his art direction of that sometimes use pictures Using custom types, it influenc- Carson’s eagerness for chaotic
Westvaco Inspirations. of pictures, as in this memorial es the design community with design sets this cutting-edge
to JFK. emerging DTP technology. music magazine apart.