I’ve always liked the font Cooper Black and when I saw it was designed before 1939, I decided to do my typography zine project on it. I started by finding out as much information as I can and taking notes along the way. Then, I condensed all my notes into simple sentences because we only have eight pages including a title page. I roughly sketched out my layout and did two versions of my sketch. I chose a tan colour paper to use as my background because I knew I wanted to add some text and images using plain white paper and I really like the contrast between the two. Overall, I thought it was a fun and informative project. I learned a lot about how a typeface can stand out better and the details in the font really surprised me because I didn’t notice these elements before. I would give myself a 9/10. I really like how my zine turned out and how clean and organized it is. I did a lot of research and planning before I started working on a sketch and I took off one mark because I think I could have shortened the amount of information on each page and I made a few mistakes while writing my summary so I used whiteout to correct them but it turned out to be pretty noticeable.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) was a seminal French painter who championed Neoclassicism during a period that saw the rise of Romantic painters like Eugène Delacroix.
Though Ingres was an artist known to follow his own impulses he was still a devout student of cultural conservatism, never straying completely from Neoclassical’s new but traditional beliefs. As his father was an artist, Ingres likely began training at an early age. He studied under Jacques-Louis David for four years and was profoundly influenced by him, as well as by the works of antiquity he saw in the Louvre. Ingres considered himself the protector of French academic orthodoxy and fought against the rising popularity of Romanticism. He did not enjoy painting violent battle scenes like others during his time did. Instead, he took inspiration from Orientalism and he saw himself as a history painter, the highest goal of academic art which centered on study from the nude and classical art. Under the influence of Italian art, particularly Raphael, Ingres mastered portraiture. After his death in 1867, Ingres left behind many fans but no pupils to carry on the Neoclassicism legacy.
My first impression of Ingres’ work was that it seemed very dramatic, eventful, and passionate. It appears very monotone, but I think Ingres created great depth with his values and uses great contrast between subject and background. The attention to detail put into the pieces amazes me and I thoroughly adore the way he paints fabric and clothing in general.
Today, photography can be used to capture a memory. This is all thanks to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor who used the process of heliography to create the world’s first permanent photographic image.
portrait of Niépce
first version of Niépce’s photo
Niépce’s View from the Window at Le Gras (1826 or 1827) is the earliest surviving photograph of a view of Niépce’s estate in Burgundy, France. It was made using a camera obscura. As heliography produces one-of-a-kind images, there are no duplicates of the piece. Niépce used a very small camera of his own making and a pinhole acting as the lens. He coated Bitumen of Judea onto a piece of glass or metal; the Bitumen then hardened in proportion to the amount of light that hit it. The exposure took at least eight hours. Eight whole hours! Niépce’s patience and dedication amazes me! Obviously, the photo is very low quality and difficult to see. The grayish-hued plate containing hardened bitumen looks like a blur. During the exposure, different areas of the bitumen had hardened by different amounts, and the chemical wash removed some of the coating more than in other areas, leaving the image behind.
camera that was used
When the picture was taken, he fixed the image with lavender oil and white petroleum. He then created enhanced versions of the photo which is much easier to see. If you look at the photograph carefully, you can observe the results of the very long exposure. Both the building wing on the left and the one on the right were illuminated. The colours are showing up more in the enhanced photo and in the black and white one, the contrast is very obvious so we’re able to clearly see the buildings.
It truly is a revolutionary invention that not many people know about. The first photograph is now sealed in an oxygen-free case at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin. I hope I’ll be able to see it with my own eyes someday.
The Thirty Years’ War was primarily fought in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was a brutal period in history, deadlier than the Black Death and World War II, in terms of the proportion of the population lost. However, I won’t be rambling on about the boring historical facts and dates during this war. No need to thank me. Instead, let’s talk about how the armies dressed and the weapons and strategies they used. Uniforms were rare in at least the Swedish army, although there may have been a few exceptions for officers and some elite troops. Soldiers were however supposed to make or buy their own clothes usually brought from home. Although some things such as hats, feathers, socks and armour were granted by the army to all soldiers. The feather was worn on the hats of Swedish soldiers to make them recognizable to their own. Color was too expensive even for a small part of cloth for every soldier. Undyed cloth was probably often used and brown, grey, off-white coats and breeches would be commonly seen. If they had the materials at hand, the men would try and brighten their array by adding coloured ribbons.
uniform example on a very upset man
Officers might have had more extravagant and colourful clothes though. Blue and red were most used for them. Soldiers used many kinds of weapons primarily pikes in formations called Tercios.
victory using the Tercios!
The arquebus was the main firearm during the 16th century and was used in the 17th century and they were so heavy, a support stand was needed. Crossbows from the earlier period were still in use from the beginning of the war, as well as daggers and buckler and rapiers.
Cupid during war >:0
Gun model sketches
The most recent innovation was the matchlock musket. There were few rifles in use until the mid-18th century primarily because they were slow to load. Swords were still used throughout. Some were curved while others were thin and straight. Some German troops used two-handed great swords.
example of swords used
Battle tactics and strategies also helped many countries win in the war. The most common tactic used was the caracole – a combined cavalry charge assisted by firearms. Eventually, this was replaced by a full-scale cavalry charge. Such tactics needed well trained and disciplined troops.
painting to depict the chaos of the war
The developments of war strategies throughout the Thirty Years’ War influenced the style of warfare in future wars. Although fashion didn’t play a huge role in earning victory during the war, it is still interesting (I hope) to look at the clothing and armour they were provided to fight in this huge battle.
Mood boards organize ideas and convey feelings about a topic. It took me a while to become familiar with Invision as this was my first time using it. I started out by listing possible events I could research about in a notebook page. Then, I eliminated the ones which didn’t connect to each topic groups.
It was quite difficult to think of connections between events and topics, so this took me a long time to plan. I wish I had known we could choose topics outside of the three groups before I finished the mood board. I also had to be mindful of the significance of the events I chose because I couldn’t find too much information on minor events. Which is why I ended up with the three events: Bauhaus, Charles Lindbergh and US Stock Market Crash. They all had a great impact on the world, whether positively or negatively.
I thought the overall experience with Invision was a little confusing but stimulating. Despite the time and effort I took on this assignment, it was still very informative, and I learned a lot about different aspects of history. Finally, I would give myself a 9/10. I misunderstood part of the project criteria and ended up redoing the assignment halfway. But I planned the assignment well and worked very hard on the research and curating the mood board. If I reached out to my classmates or professor sooner, I could have probably avoided the confusion upon the project brief and take less time completing the project.
Bosch is a well-known Dutch 15th century artist, known for his surrealistic depictions of scenes derived from religious beliefs. Although little is known about his life, we know that he was born sometime between 1450–1456 and that his birth name was Jheronimus Van Aken. Bosch was very well-known throughout Europe in his lifetime. He is also believed to have been a well-educated man and relatively affluent. And after his death, his art was widely imitated and copied. He received many commissions relating to religious themes while staying in Hertogenbosch, a city located in North Brabant, Netherlands. His early work was very conventional, and the unusual style and biblical references developed later. As his city belonged to the Roman Empire, we can speculate that he might have had access to classical Roman art and would have been somewhat influenced by the art of the Renaissance.
The Garden of Earthly Delights, oil on canvas, 1515 Adoration of the Magi, oil on panel, 1500 The Hermit Saints, oil on panel, 1493The Last Judgement, oil on wood, 1482 The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things, oil on wood, 1500
I gravitate towards the surrealistic and sinister style Bosch beautifully achieves. No other artist from that period (from what I’ve seen) consistently created non-traditional images throughout every painting. Although only twenty-five paintings and eight drawings remain, his creative imagery and his use of earthy, warm-toned colours really attracted me to his paintings. An interesting thing I noticed is that he creates many triptych paintings and effectively use this layout to communicate a story. Bosch was successful with the Habsburgs, who found his work desirable and collected it. Therefore, today his masterworks can be found in Madrid and Vienna.
