Ars and Crafts Movement

The arts and crafts movement was all about quality.  The leader of the English Arts and Crafts movement William Morris called for purpose and truth to the nature of the materials and methods of production and individual expression.
John Ruskin inspired the philosophy of Morris' movement.  According to Ruskin there was a severance of art and society caused by industrialization and the development of technology.  His claim is that creativity took a hit due to these factors, basically people just wanted to make products quickly in order to make money.  Ruskin believed that beautiful things were useful simply because they were beautiful.
Morris rested well to the beliefs of Ruskin and suggested that art and craft needed to be looked at a bit closer.  Mass produced goods lack this "honest" craftsmanship that needed to be applied when making all goods, from fabrics to buildings.

William Morris, Rose fabric design, 1883

Cabinet design for Morris and Company, 1861. Paintings by Ford Madox Brown, which illustrate the honeymoon of the fifteenth-century Italian King Rene of Anjou, grace this cabinet. Meggs' History of Graphic design 5th edition

Printmaking

In the early 1300’s pictorial designs were being printed on textiles in Europe. Card playing became popular and even though it was outlawed many people still played.  Since people were still playing cards, cards were still being designed which allowed block printing to still develop.  

Playing cards were the first printed pieces to be available to people that couldn’t necessarily read.  Laymen could now play card games that were originally only played by nobles.  Since almost everyone had access to cards that had all types of symbols on them, these symbols created a new way for people to communicate. 

Since these illustrations were typically quite simple they were used for religious instruction of illiterates.   

Woodblock print of Saint Christopher, 1423. The unknown illustrator depicted the legendary saint, a giant who carried travelers safely across a river, bearing the infant Christ. The inscription at the bottom reads, "In what so ever day thou seest the likeness of St. Christopher/in that same day thou wilt at least from death no evil blow incur. -Megg's History of Graphic Design 5th edition

Greek Alphabet History

The oldest known inscriptions date back to the 8^th century but the Greeks made major advancements in graphic communication when it came to their alphabet. 

            The story goes like this, Cadamus, King of Phoenicia set out to find his sister.  During his journey, he killed a dragon and planted its teeth like seeds and an army sprouted from them.  And in his return he brought the alphabet to Greece.  The stories main point is that Cadmus used the alphabet to bring his army to power.  He used the alphabet as a communication and information tool. 

ww.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Cadmus.html

            The Greeks applied Geometry to the structure of letters to the Phoenician alphabet to make them into their own art form.  They first adopted the style of writing from right to left which soon turned into alternating every line so that one could read continuously.  Eventually it became the way that we read English today, left to right.     

            The Greek alphabet was adopted as Athens standard in 400BCE.  Around 700BCE the Greek alphabet became crucial because they developed a representative government.  When citizens voted they used tokens with inscriptions on them so they could vote in secret, instead of raising their hands.  They were also now able to authorize documents with a seal, which would typically be stamped into wax.  This also allowed for personal identification because you would be able to have your own seal.

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             The growth of oral communication to written began to grow in 350 BCE.  This led to the development of libraries.  These libraries contained papyrus scrolls, some of which we still have today.  Without the development of the Greek alphabet we would not have other languages like Latin, which also means English.