Nineteenth Century Responses to Industrialization
The industrial age brought about a series of political, economicaland social changes that were generally reflected by the art works createdat that time. We can think of many such works: Dickens and his novels ofcourse or some of the paintings of mid-19th century. These works of artreflected not only a period of change for the society, but also the use ofnew means of production that endured faster made and usually better quality This is also the case of graphic design- in many ways, it followedthe evolution of any other industry. The Gutenberg press was in use forseveral centuries when the steam engine was invented in the 18th century."The development of the steam engine impacted on the mechanization of theprinting presses"[1]. As in any other industry, the apparition anddevelopment of the steam engine and the "mechanization" of the designprocess made it possible to create more in much less time[2]. Even thus,as in many other areas, the negative consequences of graphics designs wasquite high: an increase in speed was usually not reflected in the qualityof the final product and the usual case was that the graphic designs werenot of the same quality as before. The workers
Theprocess itself was rather difficult, especially the illustration part,because the 87 drawings needed to be transferred to wood blocks. This is possibly the closest of what Morris has in mind as the idealbook, with "its illustrations, ornamentation, and type -a smaller versionof the Troy type, called "Chaucer"-integrated with each other andinseparable"[3]. Can be found on the Internet athttp://www. Within this firm, Morris producedover 150 designs for stained glass, many of which have become histrademark. html[2] The Times printing press was to exceed 1000 copies per hour in 1814 forexample. The second one issomewhat a consequence of the first change: Morris transformed graphicaldesign into a very profitable business, a business like any another with adetermined customer segment (those willing to pay a premium price for abetter quality product) and he "proved that a market existed for works ofgraphic design"[4]. However, as I have shown in the lines above, this quest for speed andthe inclination towards the commercial aspect made many of the graphicdesigns works lose their original quality. edu/exhibitions/online/morris/#kelmscott_images[4] http://artzia. Thelabel designs began to be registered as trademarks and were more and moreused as commercial products rather than works of art. It was also duringthis period that the label with signature, attesting the product's qualitythat we see today in many commercials made its appearance. He began as a designer and decoratedhis own Red House, that had been built for him by Philip Webb. I have already mentioned Morris's fascination withmedieval typographic works and with Chaucer, so we can somehow understandwhy this work benefited from his whole and undivided attention.
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Acceptance Essays
