Newspapers
The A-Z of industrialisationNewspapers are printed products that appear periodically containing up-to-date information. Newspapers finance themselves by selling single issues, through subscriptions and through advertising. Newspapers depend on efficient printing methods and reasonably priced paper.
Newt Juice Fill
Graffiti font for pupils to colour inAmerican graphic designer Todd Dever designed this unconventional, playful typeface in 2003 for decorating skateboards. This was never actually done in practice, but the letters were interesting enough for an entire typeface, which he drew by hand with a pen.
Old memory techniques
Saving information before writingHumans were using tally sticks, knotted strings, message sticks, figure chains and many other such items as tools for communication in the early stages both prior to writing and in the early stages of its development. These artefacts (sometimes referred to as “object script”) served as mnemonic devices.
Optima
Liaison between Antiqua and sans-serifIn the post-War period, the German typographer Herman Zapf was commissioned by the D. Stempel type foundry to design a commercial typeface. The first sketches of the typeface were done in 1950 at the cemetery of the Santa Croce Franciscan church in Florence as Zapf examined the types on the gravestones.
Oral traditions of storytelling and cultural transmission
Singers, rhapsodists, troubadoursLong before writing entered common use, ideas of religious, historical, and everyday practical importance were passed on orally from generation to generation. The typical forms of this oral memory culture include myths, fairy tales, legends, riddles, proverbs, prayers and songs.
Originals and copies
On the value of authenticityReproducing a second version of a text that is preferably identical – a copy or duplicate – is an age-old desire in cultures that use the written word. In correspondence, sender and recipient want to access the same document, whether an attestation, contract or certificate.
Ornament
The A-Z of industrialisationOrnament is a form of decoration that is usually repetitive and it can be of a representational or abstract nature. Unlike other graphic or figurative images (Illustration), it is only of low informational value, and yet it lends products, especially those manufactured in mass production processes (Factory) and under the division of labour a distinctive nuance.
Palatino
An easily legible book type for offset printingBetween 1948 and 1950, the German type designer Hermann Zapf designed a typeface family called Palatino well-suited to the planographic printing method and low-quality paper used in the post-War years. It was first tested in a booklet commemorating the 200th anniversary of Goethe’s birth, and from 1955 was used in the renowned Gutenberg-Jahrbuch series.
Paper
The A-Z of industrialisationPaper is a material made of prepared plant fibres that acts as a substrate for writing and graphic images. Paper types with different properties are created by dyeing, adding fillers and size, pressing and smoothing.
Pixels
Joined up picture elementsImages can be made up of individual picture elements. The design of an image, ornament or type face is broken down into pixels (picture elements).
