Chronologies 3 - Illustration

Firstly, I was quite excited for this lecture, I have a strong interest in the field of illustration and appreciate it on the same level that I do animation. The idea of image making is something that really appeals to me, and illustrations close ties to animation made this particular lecture even more worth while for me, so I was very interested in what was said. What is Illustration? The word 'illustration' refers to, similarly to the word 'illuminate', shining a light on or lighting up. In the context of illustration this means putting a meaning to a piece of text or producing an image with a meaning or purpose. In early publications, images that accompanied text were even referred to as 'illuminations'. So overall, illustration is to put it simply, images with a purpose and strategic image making. This can also be called, 'visual communication'.

The phrase applied art, also plays a part here. Applied meaning that images produced are applied or joined to something else.  Matt, who was conducting the lecture is a practicing illustrator and said that good illustrations have aesthetic and meaning. In other words, they have a pleasing and interesting aesthetic to them, whilst also holding on to a meaning and fulfill their purpose as a back up for perhaps a piece of text. The idea of an illustration is to be a fundamental for conveying a message, and combined with a concept and an idea it becomes visual communication, communicating via images or visuals. Different illustrations have different concepts and aesthetics based on the overall idea behind the illustration and the artist producing the illustration. Most illustrations contain the artists 'tone of voice', this relates to the way an artists work is crafted and the style the artist portrays in their work, I almost want to say that an artists tone of voice is the feeling you get when you observe or look into their work. There is a such a broad range of illustrators out there and artists, that there is an unthinkable amount of different styles and 'tones of voice'. Depending on the style of different illustrators, they can collaborate to enhance their work and create something new with a new tone of voice, or even collaborate with people across different practices in order to create something original and innovative.

Illustration, like graphic design, photography, animation, and a number of other artistic practices are essential in being able to interpret and convey information and ideas to the world, through serious and emotive work or for the purpose of entertainment. I really appreciate and enjoy that I can try and focus on a broad range of practices, within my general life and whilst studying at University. Being able to practice, illustration and photography within the animation course reinforces how free it is and how the different focuses compliment each other not only for study purposes but in the real world too.

Chronologies 2 - History of Print

Prin·t

verb

1. to produce (a text, picture, etc.) by applying inked types, plates, blocks, or the like, to paper or other material either by direct pressure or indirectly by offsetting an image onto an intermediate roller.

Prin·t

verb

2. to reproduce (a design or pattern) by engraving on a plate or block.

Prin·t

Verb

3. to form a design or pattern upon, as by stamping with an engraved plate or block: to print calico.

Prin·t

Verb

4. to cause (a manuscript, text, etc.) to be published in print.

This lecture was another chronologies based on the history of print. This particular subject matter reminded me a lot of the lecture based on Communication and the Mass Media, that was also focused on design and print. Despite this I found it interesting and quite enjoyable to learn about something as important as print through the past up to present day. One of the things I really enjoy about these type of lectures is when we are told about things dating back to, in this case, Ancient China. It's the kind of thing you never get the opportunity to learn about unless you study it specifically, so I feel privileged to be learning about areas like this despite studying animation. It's not only enjoyable but incredibly informative and interesting to have a better grasp of development of certain aspects like this throughout time.

It was emphasised a lot throughout the lecture how important print was and how various things have evolved because of it. One example used was religion. Before religious texts were recorded, whether we look at the Bible, Torah, or the Qur'an; the only way religious practice and teachings could spread or develop was through word of mouth. Because of this different interpretations and ideas were communicated and altered as they spread, leading to distorted information that was easily misinterpreted. Based on this idea, there was an exercise where a piece of information was given to someone and then passed person to person around the room until the final person revealed what they were told, which was very different to the original words and consequently half proved the theory about misinformation being transmitted person to person via word of mouth and reinforcing the importance of print. When people read printed materials, they more than not believe it to be true, or fact. This can also be a dangerous thing as mass audiences can be manipulated into misinterpreting information that they believe to be true due to the fact it's printed. Tabloid newspapers often print half truths, meaning although they aren't false they don't give the full story and allow information to be purposely misinterpreted.

The idea of purposely misleading people and consumerism led us to learn more about propaganda and how it operates. The idea of propaganda during wartime was to be intimidating and pressure people into enlisting. Nowadays it's a lot more mild and is much more suggestive, depicting positive imagery as oppose to negative, forceful imagery.

Finally we were presented with a case study associated with wrestling. The case study showed that as one of the wrestlers was French and the other American, and because of the differential made between the two competitors; the Frenchman was seen as the enemy by the American audience watching the match on American television. Again, showing the power of mass media and communication to a large audience.

Overall, this was a very informative and enjoyable lecture. It was interesting learning in detail how important the use of print is and how it has encouraged the accurate spread of information throughout history. From this, I feel much more aware about the importance of accurate communication and how devastating the spread of misinformed information can be.

Chronologies 1 - A History of Type

The focus of this particular lecture was type and the history of type as a whole. At the beginning we were shown a variety of different types and were told how they provoke different responses from the audience. For example if the type face, 'comic-sans' was used the lecturer stated how it would be harder for the audience to take him seriously because that type of whimsical font is often associated with less serious subject matter. However if he used a type face that is considered by many a much more formal font such as 'Ariel' then the audience were more inclined to have a serious mind set and approach what the lecturer was saying as such.

Typography is the overlap between visual and verbal communication, it is using words in a visual way to express something. Because of this, our brain doesn't only interpret the meaning of the words but also the visual side of the type face used to communicate to us. This can alter our interpretation and perception based on how information is presented to us.

Something that became apparent to me during the lecture, that I hadn't really considered before was the impact that typography can have, and the influence it has on society as a whole. Each individual font contains a lot of history and development, and has been used in places you would never have considered. Typography in a modern sense has developed from types used previously decades or even hundreds of years ago, and carry historical influence with them. As typography has developed it takes with it influence and characteristics from previous type faces. The lecturer mentioned 'Times New Roman' at one point during the lecture, and spoke about where that type face came from originally. Times New Roman is a serif typeface that was commissioned by 'the Times' newspaper in 1931 after an article was written about how the paper was badly printed. Other typefaces have other historical implications that to the average person wouldn't be apparent, but exist nonetheless. For example, the typeface 'Futura' which was invented in 1927 by Paul Renner is used widely today but was invented with Bauhaus influences in mind. Futura was the typeface used on the plaque that was placed on the moon in 1969 when man first landed there, it has also been used extensively in cinema and is seen in films directed by people such as Stanley Kubrick who used it religiously to people such as Wes Anderson. In modern culture its used on multiple branding exploits such as Dominoes Pizza, Louis Vuitton and Absolut Vodka. This is just one example of a typeface with a broad history and an unthinkable range of uses, and this is something I found really quite interesting from this particular lecture after I looked into some aspects of it on my own.

This lecture was another eye opening and thought provoking experience because it touched on subject matter and went quite deep into things I've never really thought about, at least on this level before. It reminded me of how in typography but in most aspects of modern life lies a very real historical influence, and very few of today's modern designs whether it be a car or a typeface exist without the influence of previous inventions and sparks of innovation.