contact sheet

When collecting the imagery for this project I focused largely on Manchester's northern quarter as it contains masses of hand rendered type and graffiti, although some images were taken within leeds in order to express a union between the two most prominent cities within the north. A range of mediums were explored, a factor in which I felt necessary in order to express my concept. 

Contact sheets were developed to aid me with the selection of photographs. I felt this important as I want to exhibit the most differential types within my book. A range of locations were expressed including: lampposts, walls, shops, signs, street plaques. This was done intentionally, to make every image appar fresh and exciting. There are also a few images that contain profanity, a factor in which I believe will amuse the consumer whilst still keeping the tone semi-professional. 

new mind map (urban location)

From the demise of my other concept I decided to focus primarily upon type within an urban location. From this I want to explore hand rendered type, creating a contrast to the dense urban location. When exploring these locations I want to focus my efforts widely upon graffiti and calligraphy, as I personally feel there are large connotations between the two. This may also express the diverse nature of people within a city.

To kickstart my project I have decided to revisit Manchester. Homing 2.55 million people, Manchester is the main hub of the north, with the northern quarter being home to large murals I believe that this would be an ideal location to gather a basis of imagery for my project.

Manchester libabry-why ive changed my mind on topic area

As my initial concept was to explore the ways in which the industrial revolution changed typography I decided to explore Manchester. With the city's large heritage and reference to the spinning Jenny, I felt that focusing my project around Manchester would be ideal as it was somewhat recognised as the hub of industry at the time. 

When firstly looking around Manchester I photographed slab serifs that appeared dated and other typefaces common of the time. Although I found this contextual, there were no dates upon the typefaces construction and thus I felt this largely dampened my concept as I wanted my future book to appear historically accurate. 

In an attempt to look more accurately at type from the time I decided to visit Manchester Library whereby I looked at documents from that period. This including birth/death certificates alongside an exhibition they are currently holding. I found the certificates to be formed from calligraphy, most likely by the vicar at the time. This being an important factor within family history as it often occurred that the vicar spelt the name of the individual's wrong as they themselves were unable to write. I also found many of the certificates in Latin, a norm at the time.

After taking imagery of multiple documents and the exhibition, I found the photographs to appear very limited. As they all follow the same format, being printed upon paper. I felt that this lacked my vision from my original concept of photographing a variation of mediums. Due to this I decided that one of my other concepts would be far more visually pleasing to that of the target audience. After re-visiting my mindmaps I decided to explore the idea of 'type within an urban location'.

short summary-research

The evolution of graphic design as a practice and profession has been closely bound to technological innovations, societal needs, and the visual imagination of practitioners. Graphic design has been practiced in various forms throughout history; indeed, strong examples of graphic design date back to manuscripts in ancientChina, Egypt, and Greece. As printing and book production developed in the 15th century, advances in graphic design developed alongside it over subsequent centuries, with compositors or typesetters often designing pages as they set the type.


In the late 19th century, graphic design emerged as a distinct profession in the West, in part because of the job specialization process that occurred there, and in part because of the new technologies and commercial possibilities brought about by theIndustrial Revolution. New production methods led to the separation of the design of a communication medium (e.g., a poster) from its actual production. Increasingly, over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, advertising agencies, book publishers, and magazines hired art directors who organized all visual elements of the communication and brought them into a harmonious whole, creating an expression appropriate to the content. In 1922 typographer William A. Dwigginscoined the term graphic design to identify the emerging field.

How the industrial revolution changed graphic design/typography-RESEARCH

Slab Serif

The impact of the Industrial Revolution brought profound changes to printing and typography in the 19th century. Manufacturing and mass production of consumer goods had two major effects on print communication: the creation of new kinds of print media and the emergence of more functional type designs for commercial purposes.


Slab Serif Characeristics

minimal variation of thick and thin strokes
heavy serifs with squared-off ends
large x-heights.
vertical stress in rounded strkes

For three and a half centuries, typography and printing had been concerned exclusively with the publishing of books. By the early 1800s, the impact of the Industrial Revolution propelled the printing industry in a new direction. The advent of industrial manufacturing created a need to promote the sale of ready-made goods and, as the technology of industry became more complex, manufacturers required a more literate workforce. In addressing these needs, the commercial, or job, printer emerged. New print media, magazines and newspapers, proliferated with great appeal to the masses. Print advertising emerged in these media as an effective way to sell products to the masses.

The impact of technology on printing, paper manufacturing, and mechanical typesetting created a demand for a new style in type design that was compatible with mass-production.

The advent of print journalism and advertising demanded types that were not only readable, but bold and distinctive enough to catch the reader’s attention.

This was the era of Slab Serif, or Egyptian typefaces.




Many of the slab serif display types of the early nineteenth century were created to attract attention in newspapers and advertising.


Slab Serif faces generally return to lesser contrast between thick and thin strokes with serifs that are as thick as the strokes and squared off at the ends.

While most of these typefaces were exceptionally bold and decorative, reminiscent of the newspapers and wanted posters of the old west, a few were quite refined and remain popular today, such as Clarendon, and Bookman.



Clarendon
Released by R. Besley & Co. in 1845


he most popular of the Slab Serif typefaces, Clarendon was copied by most of the19th century foundries. It exhibits the distinct qualities of the best Slab Serifs:

minimal stroke variation
heavy, squared-off serifs
large x-height

Clarendon’s simple, bold design was well suited to the demands of of early commercial, or ‘job’, printing.


This period is generally considered to be backward step in the evolution of type design. The trend toward a more refined aesthetic that began with Transitional forms and continued with Modern types was overshadowed by the dictates of mass production and new print media.

The design of new types was influenced more by commercial popularity than aesthetic development. This notion of popular appeal is illustrated by the fact that many of these typefaces were given Egyptian-sounding names, such as Cairo and Karnak, to exploit the public fascination with the discoveries of ancient Egyptian artifacts. The Slab Serif typefaces are often referred to as Egyptian typefaces.

To meet the demand for distinctive display types, type foundries developed scores of Slab Serif variations. By the end of the 19th century, typography had become overly ornate and faddish

ideas-mind maps

To begin the summer brief the requirements were firstly addressed to ensure that they are completed. Doing this refers to feedback given within my previous academic year at LCA. Desirables include 26 photographs (one per letter), a descriptive passage for each image taken and also a 5-10 minute presentation. In order to achieve this a concept must firstly be defined.

In order to explore multiple avenues within this project I decided to develop a mind map in order

to visually record my thoughts. Although a broad range of ideas were explored I didn't personally 

gather excitement around any. 

To gather more type specific ideas I looked at where type is most prominent. Uses were also discussed,with transport links being an interesting avenue. I also began to think about the historical aspects of type and how far it has come. 

Using the previous mindmaps to aid me I began to correlate another with more specific ideas. When exploring ideas I chose concepts in which I belive would challenge me intellectually, and allow me a lot of leeway to be creative.  The strongest concepts being: typography in a world of digital type, How the industrial revolution manipulated typography and typography in a lost civilization. 

As I was uncertain about which route to follow, I explored further mindmaps looking at which would allow the most mediums to be present within the images. As this will be my second year within university I really want to explore areas of my interest further, to allow my interests to appear apparent within my future portfolio. Due to this I decided upon the industrial revolution, as I find the historical findings of art engaging, and writing about art within the future is an aspect in which excites me.

To begin this topic area I firstly researched into the prominence of the industrial revolution, and key events in which occurred. Also relevant printing methods were closely looked into. A more specific overview can be explored within the following blogpost.

After looking closely at the relevant research I decided that the location of my project should be Manchester, due to its large connotations to the industrial revolution. It is also recognisable as a city which had a large bloom in population during this period, and is also the home of the spinning jenny.

Level 5