ITAP- Printing & production

Lacseux caves

Production. One of the most important steps forward in our history, not just in the visual communication sense but as a species of intelligent mammals was the production of printed literature. Without books and assorted printed literature our history would have been a lot different, productivity and technological enhancements have not evolved exponentially at the same speed as it did after the advent of printed literature.

 Knowledge is power, and power was now available. No longer were people exclusively relying on traditions being passed down through generations but they could now be printed and have the knowledge entombed for eternity within a paper rectangle.

The Diamond Sutra

  Philosophy, science, mathematics, medicine, combustion, hygiene, and not so desirably munitions were all fields which grew and excelled under the wealth of knowledge available in the written format. The inception of the written word wasn’t hailed by everybody, the catholic church centuries ago were scared of the potential power the written word had and only allowed printing in the 1400’s under their strict supervision. Printing only started where written books had left off though. Many years before there had been hand written books making their way around the continent, most of them religious.

Gutenberg bible

  “The Diamond Sutra” an Indian text translated to Chinese in about AD400 is the earliest dated book at this time. But we could go back further and look at the cave paintings inscribed within the Lascaux caves in the French Alps estimated to be 17,000 years old, clearly showing narrative in an illustrated form, this time on a wall. Making marks with objects and mediums has been around almost as long as we have, it is our culture, it is what we do, an ideal made ever more poignant in visual communication.

Victorian etching

    But it wasn’t until 1439 that German blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg printed the first book in Europe. The acclaimed “Gutenberg Bible”. He used the Gutenberg Press, the first machine to use movable print blocks, one of the most important advancements in book making in history.  Etching then came slightly later, using metal and acid to create stunningly detailed etches of anything from people, animals and architecture. Another key principle described in the lecture was expertise. An acknowledgement acquired after many, many years practitioning in your chosen craft.

Neville Brody

  They say it takes 10,000 hour drawing time to become an expert artist, this credits the physical motor neurone memory of drawing for such a substantial amount of time that it becomes easier to replicate imagery and the pen strokes become more fluid. After looking through the experts presented in the slideshow I would have to choose Neville Brody as my particular favourite.

Neville Brody

  Not to detract from the other Graphic designers but personally the style choices Brody uses I admire greatly. The Sans serif typefaces with minimal colour, always using the negative space expertly where as some other designers have works that, to me anyway, look oversaturated with design and your eyes don’t know where to look, which is why I would prefer to see Brody’s work.