An Epoch of Typographic Genius

To construct the new roman capital letters, a square was divided into a grid of sixty-four units. Each of these units was divided further into thirty-six smaller units for a total of 2,304 tiny squares. Italics were constructed on a smaller grid. The new letter designs had fewer calligraphic properties inspired by the chisel and flat pen. A mathematical harmony was achieved by measurement and drafting instruments. Romain du Roi was the new typeface which had increased contrast between thick and thin strokes, sharp horizontal serifs and an even balance for each letterform.

Types designed for the Imprimerie Royale could only be used by that office for royal printing other use constituted a capital offense. Some typefounders quickly cut types with similar characteristics but they made certain the designs were sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion with Imprimerie Royale fonts.

Graphic design of the rococo era

Florid and intricate rococo ornament is composed of S- and C- curves with scrollwork, tracery and plant forms derived from nature, classical and oriental art and medieval sources. Light pastel colours were often used with ivory white and gold in asymmetrically balanced designs. Engraving is a drawing made with a graver instead of a pencil as the drawing tool and a smooth copper plate instead of a sheet of paper as the substrate. This free line was an ideal medium for expressing the florid curves of the rococo sensibility, engraving flourished throughout the 1700s. Engravers prominently signed broadsheets, title pages, and large images for domestic walls that were frequently based on oil paintings. Because the serifs and thin strokes of letterforms were reduced to the delicate scratch of the engraver's finest tool, the contrast in the text material was dazzling and inspired imitation by typographic designers.

Rococo Era

Caslon and Baskerville

Caslon's type designs were not particularly fashionable or innovative. They owned their tremendous popularity and appeal to an outstanding legibility and sturdy texture that made them comfortable and friendly to the eye. He increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes by making the former slightly heavier. These fonts have a variety in their design giving them an uneven, rhythmetic texture that adds to their visual interest and appeal. He worked in a tradition of Old Style roman typographic design that had begun over two hundred years earlier during the Italian Renaissance.  

Baskerville was involved in all facets of the bookmaking process. Frames, boxes, clock cases, candlesticks and trays were made from thin sheet metal, often decorated with hand-painted fruit and flowers and finished with a hard, brilliant varnish. these type designs represent the zenith of the transitional style bridging the gap between Old Style and modern type design. Patterns were created in manufacture by wires that form the screen in the papermaker's mold, the close parallel wires are supported by larger wires running at right angles to the thinner wires. 

Baskerville font

The imperial designs of Louis Rene Luce

Engraved borders were being widely used and required a second printing, first the text was printed and then, in a second run of the same sheets, the borders. Luce created a large series of letterpress borders, ornaments, trophies and other devices of impressive variety and excellent printing quality. The density of line in Luce's ornaments was carefully planned to be visually compatible with his typefaces and often had an identical weight so that they looked as if they belonged together in a design.

Imperial Designs of Louis Rene Luce

The modern style

The modern style was first used by Fournier le Jeune in his Manuel typographique to describe the design trends that culminated in Bodoni's mature work. The initial impetus was the thin, straight serifs of Grandjean's Romain du Roi, followed by engraved pages by artists. The letterforms and page layouts of Baskerville came next. The design of narrower, more condensed letterforms, gave type that formed sharp right angles with upright strokes, eliminating the tapered flow of the serif into the upright stroke in Old Style roman. 

The illuminated printing of William Blake

Each page was printed as a monochrome etching combining word and image. The lyrical fantasy, glowing swirls of colour, and imaginative vision that Blake achieved in his poetry and accompanying designs represent an effort to transcend the material of graphic design and printing to achieve spiritual expression. His bright colours and swirling organic forms are forerunners to expressionism, art nouveau and absract art. Printing had been a handicraft, and graphic design had involved the layout of metal type and related material with illustrations printed from handmade blocks.

Printing of William Blake

Bibliography

Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: http://file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/Interactive%20Media/Contextual%20Studies/Meggs-History-of-Graphic-Design.pdf [Accessed 24 Jan. 2017].