Week 2 // The Nineteenth Century: An Expanding Field
The 19th Century was a period in which held many major events with a strong impact upon humans and all aspects of our world, therefore this brought significant change and development to the ever growing world of design. This weeks tutorial (week 2 ) was centred around the writings of Eskilson , in particular his book upon 19th century graphic design. This reading brought insight into the advances and development of design within the 19th century, this is particularly an area of history that I don't know a lot about. I found it really interesting to read and discuss all of these different advancements that led us to the technology that we have today.
One of Eskilson's main points within the reading was that there is a strong connection between the major world events that take place and the development of design. I think that this relationship reflects a call and response procedure, obviously major world events affect the population so when these changes occur they call upon the design world to also change and accomodate to these affects. These major world events are a driving force that are pushing designers and their work to develop along with the world around them. An example of this from Eskilson's writing is how the Industrial Revolution led to the introduction of Mass production. 'With mass production came an increased concentration of the population in large cities and therefore the rise of mass culture' (Eskilson). 'This affected how merchants of all sorts worked as they attempted to accommodate to the millions of inhabitants of the modern metropolis' (Eskilson). This relationship can also work the other way, where design heavily impacts the ways of humans and their interactions. This can also be seen in the example of the introduction of mass production as it allowed people to become educated upon political processes which before wouldn't have been available for them to comment or become aware of.
With so many new communications rising within this time period, you could suggest that there was a legacy for each one to be as effective as the last, however I believe that there is more of a lack of legacy during this time as each new communication was striving for a different audience and a different response. The diversity of communication within the design world of this time led to the introduction of many different groups and design subsections for the future. With all of these new communications came significant changes and development for the aesthetics and functions of design. Some of the ones that stood out to me were , the introduction of the San serif font (a response to the demands of mass culture i.e advertising and enlarged lettering), Typesetting and the invention of the Linotype and the Monotype , and finally the transition from Lithography into Photography.
I think that learning about this period in history is significant to our knowledge of the development of design and especially how it has been affected by the world around us, leading to some of the biggest discoveries and creations of the design world. This also allows us as designers to imagine what the future of design could be and how we could continue this development as the past designers did and lead our designs to develop through technological and cultural change.
One of Eskilson's main points within the reading was that there is a strong connection between the major world events that take place and the development of design. I think that this relationship reflects a call and response procedure, obviously major world events affect the population so when these changes occur they call upon the design world to also change and accomodate to these affects. These major world events are a driving force that are pushing designers and their work to develop along with the world around them. An example of this from Eskilson's writing is how the Industrial Revolution led to the introduction of Mass production. 'With mass production came an increased concentration of the population in large cities and therefore the rise of mass culture' (Eskilson). 'This affected how merchants of all sorts worked as they attempted to accommodate to the millions of inhabitants of the modern metropolis' (Eskilson). This relationship can also work the other way, where design heavily impacts the ways of humans and their interactions. This can also be seen in the example of the introduction of mass production as it allowed people to become educated upon political processes which before wouldn't have been available for them to comment or become aware of.
With so many new communications rising within this time period, you could suggest that there was a legacy for each one to be as effective as the last, however I believe that there is more of a lack of legacy during this time as each new communication was striving for a different audience and a different response. The diversity of communication within the design world of this time led to the introduction of many different groups and design subsections for the future. With all of these new communications came significant changes and development for the aesthetics and functions of design. Some of the ones that stood out to me were , the introduction of the San serif font (a response to the demands of mass culture i.e advertising and enlarged lettering), Typesetting and the invention of the Linotype and the Monotype , and finally the transition from Lithography into Photography.
I think that learning about this period in history is significant to our knowledge of the development of design and especially how it has been affected by the world around us, leading to some of the biggest discoveries and creations of the design world. This also allows us as designers to imagine what the future of design could be and how we could continue this development as the past designers did and lead our designs to develop through technological and cultural change.
Well reflected upon Olivia. Some great points in here that could have been discussed a little more heavily in class. Might want to include some links and visual examples in the blog posts.
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