Mikele Ray

Research guide #4
Excess, Enlightenment and Revolution1600-1800
These turbulent centuries saw script and images increasingly used by people
opposed to the monolithic authorities of church and state. The American
Revolution and Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, inspired the
French Revolution, the successful Haitan revolt against the French and,
much later, the Russian Revolution and the Bolivar movement in South and
Central America.
The Graphic Arts were absolutely essential to all these
developments.
The rapid evolution of printing technology, combined with the mass
production and distribution of books, newspapers, flyers, posters and
bulletins allowed new ideas to spread and take root at an unprecedented
speed and scope.
The 17th century
Was a relatively quiet time for graphic innovation. An abundant stock of
ornaments, punches, matrixes and woodblocks were available from the
renaissance period , and there was little need for innovation. Works by
William Shakespeare and other authors were printed and reached wide
distribution.
The oldest surviving newspaper was published in Augsburg, Germany in
1609.
England had its first two page running news publications, called
corantos in 1621.

North America
Stephen Daye, a British locksmith, set up the first printery of the North
American colonies in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1639.
The first publication was The Whole Booke of Psalms, following the
established tradition of publishing religious tracts to ensure sales.
By 1775 there were 50 print shops in the 13 North American colonies.
Copperplate engravings also became very popular, as newspaper- and book
illustrations, as handbills and as affordable art for private homes

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Find and show examples of:

1. Handbills

(3)

a small printed advertisement or other notice distributed by hand.

2. Newspapers

(3)

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3. Political propaganda

4. Anything else?

(3)

(3)

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The Netherlands prospered as a seafaring and mercantile nation during the

17th century. Books printed in Dutch, English, French, German and Latin were
printed and exported throughout Europe.
The types designed by the great Dutch designer and punch cutter
Christoffel van Dyck at this time were in continues use until 1810.
Find one example of Dutch printed matter of this period

(4)

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France
Louis XIV.( -) ordered a committee of scholars to develop a new type for the
Imprimiere Royal, the royal printing office established in 1640 to restore
the quality of earlier printing,
The result was a type called Romain de Roi, which could only be used by
the royal printery , other use was a capital offence( punishable by death).
Rococo was the style which flourished in France between 1720 and 1770.
Florid and intricate it consisted of swirls and curls, pastel colours and lavish
gold and white decorations. It found its strongest and most exaggerated
expression during the reign of Louis XV and in the graphic designs of
Fournier de Jeune, who also produced the first complete standardized
design systems for printing.
Publications reflected the extravagant, sensuous lifestyles of the wealthy ,
who were completely oblivious to the misery and militancy of the poverty
stricken masses.

Mikele Ray

Research the Rococo style

Show examples of the following from this period
1. Graphic arts

(2)

2. Painting

(2)

3. Fashion

(2)

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4. Architecture

(2)

5. Furniture design.

(2)

6. Find at least 2 examples of 20th-21st century

design influenced by Rococo.
(6)
The French Revolution
The bloody revolt against the monarchy
also led to a rejection of its lush designs and to a return to classical
ideals. In the forefront of this was Giambattista Bodoni, the son of a
poor printer in Northern Italy, who developed a system of
interchangeable fonts which heralded mass production and the
machine age. It became known as the Modern style

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He published 345 books, mostly new editions of Greek and Roman

classics, as well as a two-volume Manual of Type.
Find at least three illustrations/pamphlets/handbills from the French
revolution
(9)

The origin of Information Graphics

The foundation for information graphics is analytic geometry,
developed and first used by Rene Descartes (1596-1650).
Cartesian coordinates were later used by William Playfair to convert
statistical data into
symbolic graphics.
His Commercial and Political Atlas was published in 1786,
Is the Cartesian grid used in Graphic design today?
(2)
The Cartesian grid is relevant today in graphic design since it is the
base of 3D modellling software, where character design and
architecture design is portrayed.
The grid is a well known device in graphic design, mainly in
typography; even to this day it is still being used. The grid is a
commonly used term in many fields like architecture, mathematics,
engineering and design and its meaning varies from guidelines,
framework, supporting structure, channel of material flow to network of
information flow.
The use of grid for visual layouts is not at all new. In visual art, we can

Mikele Ray

find the inscriptions and the evidences of grid from the medieval
period or even before.
Give one example.

(2)
The Illuminated printing of William Blake.
William Blake, (1757-1827) was an artist, poet and visionary. His
integrated letterforms and hand coloured prints influenced 19th century
Romanticism, expressionism, Art Noveau and abstract art.
Find one example of Blakes illustrated poems.

(2)

Mikele Ray

Identify significant I mages ( paintings, prints, posters, handbills ,

public announcements, flags and other symbols) of this time. (Share
your research)
(3)
How were graphic arts used for commercial purposes and political
propaganda? (3)
Discuss the embryonic beginnings of mass media, its method and
message,
Its interaction with, and effect on, society.
(6)

Total: 60
LSN 2015