Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The Evolution of Typography
1
Typography is an evolution of the written word, and as such it
participates in a history of visual communication extending thousands
of years. That evolution is presented here in the form of a timeline that
traces a development from hand, to mechanical, to digital practice, in
the context of world-historical and art-historical events.
The history treated in the first section of the timeline predates
typography. It begins with the invention of writing over five thousand
years ago and ends with the invention of movable type in Europe
during the middle of the fifteenth century. The second section
covers the long era of the handpress and hand-set metal types. This
period, from Gutenberg's invention of movable type to the end of the
eighteenth century, lasted about 350 years. In the third section, the
Industrial Revolution and nineteenth century are revealed as an era
of technological innovation and an outpouring of new typographic
forms. The fourth section begins with the year 1900 and covers the
twentieth century, a time when type was shaped by the aesthetic
concerns of modernism, the need for functional communication,
technological progress, and the digital revolution in typography.
The final section showcases typographic design in the twenty-first
century, as it expands to mobile devices and embraces the many
possibilities afforded by digital production.
