Ch. 9 Summary

Chapter 9 is all about the industrial revolution and its influence on typography and graphic design. It began with the invention of the steam engine in the 1780s by James Watt; this invention took over many peoples’ jobs and people would try to sabotage inventions like these time-saving machines for that reason—like Ottmar Mergenthaler’s linotype machine. Manufacturers began to require marketing for their products, and “fat faces” became popular as their thick type forms called attention. Photography was also developed during the revolution; first the camera obscura, then the use of chemical paper, then negatives. In 1844 “The Pencil of Nature” was the first book illustrated with photographs. Lithography and chromolithography became popular as realistic pictures could be portrayed, in color especially. And, for the first real time, children’s books and media were designed. The Victorian era saw an influx of magazines and papers, and likewise advertising agencies, as well as fancy typefaces, such as those by Cummings, that aren’t practical for today’s standards.

I was amazed by the rapid advancement that civilization made over the 1700s-1900s. The early history of typography moves so slowly, and though it is amazing to think of completely uncivilized people able to have these insights to develop something like a language, it is more amazing to see civilized people and the technological breakthroughs their imaginative minds can come to.

Children’s books became available during the Victorian era; when did women’s publications become a common thing? Was it very long before children’s media, or about the same time?