Before the printing press the entire process of writing was done
by hand by a scribe. This remained the case until the invention of the movable
type, a basic process that used "a punch made of steel, with a mirror
image of the letter is struck into a piece of softer metal. Molten metal is
poured into this, and you get type. The type is put into a matrix to form the
page of text, inked, then pressed into paper." Printing was a huge
revolution of the time and was the first mass medium. Between 1600s and 1800s
there was little emergence in this field and it was only after this period
where "rotary steam presses (steam 1814, rotary 1868) replaced
hand-operated ones, doing the same job in 16 per cent of the time." With
this in mind visual hierarchy and the grid was all measured precisely by hand. Space
intervals, colour, graphic forms, or pictorial elements could not be edited
once presented and availability of good was limited, as were font choices. A
carefully crafted grid would take a lot of time and then maintaining that
balanced layout would be challenging.
It was only between 1973 and 1983 that
type became computer based. At first despite some advantages there were
problems ranging from different formats for fonts and not handling the graphic
well. As this system was developed digital typesetting is now commonplace.
Although some are beyond the normal users price range there is a wide variety
within the mid price range. Constant emerging technological developments has
moved digital type away from being an expensive, specialized tool, towards
becoming a commodity. The use of visual hierarchy and grid evolved with
the emergence of digital technologies as
now there is more flexibility and choice in the field and computer stimulated
programs that make the method of creating grids and emphasizing elements a much
faster process. Type face, type size, colour, line length, vertical space and
alignment of text can all be adjusted once created unlike before technology
once created it was locked in.
This emergence is evident in looking
at the two images below, the Vogue front cover in 1917 and 2008. The
limitations of type when everything was done by hand is clearly evident in the
simplicity of the layout in contrast to the later editions. Photography, text
overlays and contrasting colours make a more appealing and successful
presentation whereby the use of the grid and flexibility with arrangement allow
for visual hierarchy.
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| Vogue May 1917 |
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| Vogue April 2008 |
References:
http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/history/index.html
http://www.johnroach.net/dm/pdf/hierarchy_grid_slides.pdf
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