COP Lecture 3 : Type, Production and Distribution

Animation by Boca and R. Urich.

'The written word endures.. The Spoken word Disappears' Neil Postman, Amusing ourselves to death.

There is a need for a physical representation of our language. The very first alphabet was the Greek alphabet.

The Main Origins of type are formed from;
Brush work in the orient,
Stone Carvings,
Bone ribs and quills made for arabic language,
Wood Block and print,
Followed by Hot Metal Letters.

It is a print process, a production method.

In 1450 Johannes Gutenberg created the first print press for bibles.

Type can be classified into Categories:
Classic Old Style, 1450-1700.
Transitional, 1700-1790.
Modern, 1790-1870.
Bauhaus/Swiss Mod. 1870,1960.
Contemporary, 1960-2000.

In 1870 William Foster set the framework for providing education for children age 5-12.

In 1919 William Gropias created typewriters, the bauhaus was set up and the principle of form over function was created.

In 1957 Max Miedinger from the Bauhaus created Helvetica Font.
Neutral, designed s a brand and an identity designed on what it needed to do.
'Great Clarity, no intrinsic meaning in it's form.' Helvetica, the film.

Then precisely 25 years after Arial ripped off Helvetica.

In 1990 Steve Jobs created the first affordable desktop computer so their could be a new era of digitalisation in type.

In the same year Vincent Connare invented comic sans, boooo.

And Tim Berners created the internet for free.

And then in 1995 Bill Gates globally made Internet Explorer.