I personally enjoyed working on this zine assignment. I was able to research a typeface that I found interesting and learned a lot in the process. In addition to this, I believe that this assignment helped my creative thinking process by forcing my mind to think creatively in finding ways to present information in an interesting and artistic manner. I decided to do my zine on Bodoni as I knew it was used in the posters of “Mamma Mia!” which is one of my mom’s favourite musical films. What I did not realize was that it was created in the early 1700s but was popularized in the early 1900s due to a renewal of this font. The word timeless immediately came to mind since it was used in a couple of centuries and is still used today and I followed the word timeless with typeface for a small bit of alliteration. Another thing I wanted to point out on my zine is the revitalization page, I wanted to represent this idea a little less literally and use the metaphor of the 15 growing seedlings as a “new life” for the Bodoni font with Morris Fuller being the individual tending to these seedlings represented by the rain. I would give myself an 8/10 for this assignment because although I feel like I was able to present my information well, I could have made it flow better and try to implement more colour to make it more engaging.
The Marquise de Pezay, and the Marquise de Rougé with Her Sons Alexis and Adrien
Self Portrait in a Straw Hat
Being a woman pursuing art, I gain inspiration from individuals such as French artist Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. She was able to make a mark in the Rococo period with her portraits, specifically ones of women, and her use of bright colours and loose brushwork. Her father, Louis Vigée, worked with pastel art which naturally put her in an artistic environment to grow, painting on any surface that was available to her. He was also able to educate her on the basics of art before he passed away when she was 12. All her hard work and dedication granted her a membership in a masters guild of painters and sculptors which led to her being brought to Versailles in order to paint a portrait of Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1779. As time went by, she painted multiple portraits of the queen and ended up developing a friendship with her. Due to this relationship, she was permitted into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture which caused some controversy. Since she was a woman tied to the social status of her husband’s profession of an art dealer. This proved her to be a very powerful artist of her time.
Notice how your attention was first drawn to the title of this blog? One reason is it being at the top of the page, however, it enhances the effect by the boldness of the text contrasting from the text you are reading right now. Bold text also known as fat faces and slab serifs were heavily used during the industrial revolution.
Communication with Typeface
Industries were growing at a rapid pace, hence the name “the industrial revolution” due to this, communication through design was vital to promote their products against the competition. To enhance communication in typography people started experimenting with bold fonts. Robert Thorne responded to this growth of industrialization by founding the bold, fat roman typeface, which affected the development of advertisement for the revolution. Vincent Higgins was another individual who brought a new view of typography by introducing a 3D aspect to these bold typefaces in 1815. This then inspired designers to implement and essentially normalize the usage of these typefaces.
Robert Thorne’s typeface
Technology and Design Hand in Hand
Technology and design seemed to grow hand in hand during the revolution. As I mentioned, design was needed to create advertisements in magazines or newspapers for products and machines factories produced, some of these machines being made supposedly to assist designers and typography in general.
Inventions such as the steam-powered printing press by Friedrich Koening and metal or wood hand presses used for important words with typically the largest typeset being used in print shops sped up the production of newspapers and advertisements making it cheaper and efficient. However, this did take away jobs from individuals who worked in typesetting, only one person was needed to work a machine that would normally take multiple people to do.
Friedrich Koenig’s steam powered printing press
Another huge invention that benefits designers from the industrial revolution was photography. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first-ever permanent photo using a camera obscura. This allowed designers to take their designs even further by now being able to reprint photos.
As someone who grew up in a Catholic family and Catholic schools for almost my entire life, I’ve been to a cathedral or two when travelling on school trips or just vacations with my family. One of the many cathedrals I’ve visited during my high school’s music trip is the Notre Dame De Quebec which had aspects of baroque architecture and decor as well as the Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral.
Now what makes baroque architecture unique? It was essentially made to be overly decorated, heavily detailed and dramatic. To enhance this “dramatic” feel, they would use strong light and shade contrasts creating a chiaroscuro effect, or an even light using windows. In churches they made naves broader and circular, external walls often characterized by a dramatic central projection and the interior a canvas for more decoration and quite a few more attributes.
While there are cathedrals in Quebec that portray the techniques of baroque architecture, it actually originated in Rome, Italy in the 16th century. Carlo Maderno was one of the first architects to assist in the solidification of the baroque style of architecture as he designed the Santa Susanna church which contained aspects of the baroque architectural style like column patterns which gave it a central mass along with condensed central decoration. However still containing aspects of renaissance architecture. This then inspired other architects to design with the baroque style like Pietro da Cortana with the Santa Maria della Pace.
During this time, the scientific revolution was happening as well. Greek views of nature were overtaken by abandoning assumptions about nature and observing with an open mind. This period brought forth many developments towards biology, math, astronomy etc. which were essentially building blocks for knowledge we know today and continue to build upon. An architect by the name of Robert Hooke worked alongside Newton to develop proof of the elliptical forms of orbiting planets.
Personally, this project was difficult to understand and execute and if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I did it right. However, as I have never made a mood-board before, I found that InVision was relatively easy to understand. I decided to research the events of The Great Exhibition in London, the American Civil War, and the concept of gendered colour coding in the mid to late 1800s.
I found myself having to reverse research in order to find events to look into further. Although the period of time I had to research had a variety of events to choose from, I felt extremely limited due to an event having to be associated with very specific topics in each group, then having the options be cut down every time I solidify topics for an event.
I would give myself a 5/10 for this assignment because I was working in confusion and doubt majority of the time, which makes me unsure about the final result of this mood-board.
Simone Martini was an artist based in Siena after the generation of Duccio di Buoninsegna that helped to further develop a full Gothic style of painting. It is rumoured that he was taught by Duccio or at least by someone in his ring since it is evident in his work through the use of pure, harmonious colours that Duccio was known for. However, he was also able to implement the graceful lines that were influenced by French Gothic paintings at the time giving figures more depth. His earliest documented painting is the fresco of the Maestà, and his finest example of this linear style is the Annunciation. He spent the rest of his life in the papal court and got acquainted with a great Italian poet named Francesco Petrarch, who painted him a portrait of the subject from Petrarch’s love-sonnets.
