Chapter Nine - Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution

As the industrial revolution settled into England (760 to 1840), the graphic designer became increasingly important when dealing with marketing factory output. As revolutions across France and America, people were becoming increasingly literate and now Graphic Artists could reach a greater audience. Leading people into the era of mass communications. Over the course of the nineteenth century the graphic arts began to separate design and production components. The range of typographic sizes and letterform styles exploded. And with the added bonus of photography, graphic design began to take on a whole new look. Broadsides and large letterforms became increasingly important. It was then that William Caslon began sand-casting large, bold typefaces. Demand for these block letterform was required of all sorts of clients, and so various kinds of thick block fonts were created. The design of these posters and broadsheets did not really involve a modern 'graphic artist.' All that was needed was basic organization.

A big part of the chapter talked about the changing views on children and their effect of typography. Victorian graphic design captured the values of the era -home, religion, and patriotism- in images of children, maidens, puppies, and flowers. Before this era, children really were treated as "Little Adults." But in this time period, there was a lot more development of toy books, basically colorful picture books, for preschool children. My favorite part of this chapter is the introduction of Japanese woodblock into Western culture. The beautiful basic images with simplistic coloring really are perfect for children's illustration. An art form, I personally adore.

My question for this chapter, why do graphic artists so negativily view victorian poster designs. Personally, I find the various font styles put together in a complex harmony beautiful and extreamly creative! What are the opinions and reasoning?