History of Graphic Design Test 1

List the rules Paul Rand declared necessary for effective logo design.

Distinctiveness, visibility, usability, memorability, universality, durability, timelessness, and strategy. UUDDTVSM

What are the two theories for the invention of Serifs in ancient Roman lapidary and writing?

The first is they are the clean up strokes from the engraver. The second theory holds that the brush used by the engraver was attened to sharpen the edge of the painted stroke.

What calendar, produced in France by the sons of a Dutch wood sculptor, reversed the Gothic tendency toward abstraction and stylized presentation (and therefore signaled the coming of the Renaissance.)

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

What are uncials? Who invented them?

Uncials are a more rounded writing style created by the Greeks.

What is Chi Rho?

Used by Constantine I to represent Christ using the greek letters chi and rho (XP)

What do design historians consider to be the first logo?

Vienna Workshops trademark 1903 Joseph Hoffman

Who is the poster child for corporate brand design?

William Golden

What purpose did writing in ancient Mesopotamia serve?

Writing was invented to keep tabs on things

The two Greek letters used to write Christ, ___ ___, were use in the illuminated manuscript of the Book of Kells.

XP (Chi and Rho)

Describe the concept of rebus writing.

a pictorial image that represents a spoken sound ex. IBM [EYE] [BEE] [M] or I <3 NY

What are pictograms?

a symbol of a word or phrase ex. bathroom sign

What are ideograms?

a symbol that represents an idea or concepts ex. no smoking sign

List 3 graphic conventions of Judaic and Islamic manuscripts.

• As time went on, borders became elaborate arabesques and geometrical patterns • Aniconism: no faces or animals • Right to left

What is the Caroline Miniscule and why is it important?

• Combined Roman capitals with insular or celtic script which used 4 guidelines and ascenders and descenders. • Clean, clear and helped restore legibility • Forerunner of our modern day lowercase alphabet

List 3 graphic conventions of Celtic manuscripts.

• Ornate capitals • Red dots/rubrication • Diminuendo • Insular script • Interlaces and lacertines

How far back does the concept of the trademark go?

Cattle branding, printer's mark, and cylinder seals

How is Celtic illumination different from Spanish Pictorial illumination?

Celtic: • Ornate capitals • Red dots/rubrication • Diminuendo • Insular script • Interlaces and lacertines Spanish: • God's power expressed through art • A preoccupation with the end of the world - 1000 years after Christ • Flat backgrounds • Bright colors Flat, stylized figures • Rosettes, stars, geometric (Islamic influence) • Ornate borders

Who deciphered the Rosetta Stone and how did he do it?

Champollion deciphered 80 cartouches from the Greco-Roman era and translated them. He then used those to help him decipher the hieroglyphics. He realizing that some signs were alphabetic, syllabic, and determinatives. He found out they were pictographs and phonograms, so he sounded them out.

This emperor was more concerned with education and reading than fighting battles.

Charlemagne

What substrate did the ancient Sumarian people write on to record information?

Clay tablets

The Ras Shamra script shows signs that resemble what ancient writing system?

Cuneiform

What is the lineage of our modern alphabet?

Cuneiform > Phoenician > Greek > Roman

How did Cuneiform writing evolve?

Cuneiform evolved to become ideographic and rebus writing. - Pictures/ pictograms represented words and syllables that had a similar sound to the object depicted. - The highest development of cuneiform had abstract signs representing syllables (sounds made from combining multiple elementary sounds)

What is the difference between Cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics?

Cuneiform is abstract, hieroglyphics are pictograms.

What was diminuendo and in what period was it formed?

It is found in Celtic manuscripts it is the large first letter of the text enlarged and decorated..

The Sefer Avid or "Book of Love" is an example of what type of illumination?

Judaic

Who were the Limbourgh brothers?

Late Medieval Dutch painters. Painted "Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry"

Explain the attitude of ancient cultures towards writing and those with the ability to write.

Many societies considered writing to be a divine gift and not a human invention.

In Funerari Papyri, how were men and women drawn differently?

Men were shown darker than women

In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, what is the fate of Ani should he fail the test where his heart is weighed against a feather?

Monster stands to the right to devour the dead if they don't pass

Who was the mastermind behind ISOTYPE?

Otto Neurath

Describe the final judgement in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

- Chronological narrative - Shown in the papyrus of Ani - weighs the heart against a feather - Monster stands to the right to devour the dead if they don't pass - Color runs on top and bottom - images adjacent to text - Men were shown darker then women - the bigger the thing was the more important - human bodies were drawn in two dimensional schematic. for describe the last judgement

What is William Golden known for?

- Defined the standards for corporate design - Genuinely cared about the audience - In-house promotional history book for CBS

What was the purpose of a cylinder seal?

- First trademarks - Early commerce - Ownership/ trademark - Jewelry - Early printing

What was the Code of Hammurabi?

A Mesopotamian tablet that recorded the law.

Why were cylinder seals considered to be the earliest form of printing?

Because you could easily reproduce the products

This example of Celtic illumination uses the graphic convention of diminuendo. It is also the oldest completed illuminated book from that part of the world predating the Book of Kells.

Book of Durrow

With manuscripts from the Caroline Revival, scribes and illuminators looked to what time period and culture for inspiration?

Byzantine culture and late antique period

The Phoenicians developed their own alphabetic system of writing where symbols stood for sounds. However, they were in influenced by what two developed writing forms from the ancient world?

Egyptian (hieroglyphics) and Mesopotamian (cuneiform)

Another form of writing developed in Egypt several thousand years after the rst hieroglyphics and was not pictographic, but alphabetic in that it's symbols represented sounds, not a word or a phrase.

Egyptian Demonic

Textura is the name of the lettering style often seen in this style of illuminated manuscripts.

Gothic

Compare and contrast Gothic illumination to Late Medieval illumination.

Gothic: • Highly stylized • Great attention to detail and layout • Elongated figures on textured backgrounds. • Realism was not important • sketching, margins, specified layout • blackletter Late Medieval: • A mastering of linear and atmospheric perspective - a move away from the gothic style • Seasonal imagery (calendar)

What is Boustrophedon?

Greek for "to plow the field with an ox". Describes how to read Ancient Greek in zig zag pattern.

According to historians, who is the original creator of the smiley face?

Harvey Ball

What contribution did Gerd Arntz make to graphic design history?

He contributed to ISOTYPE (International System Of Typographic Picture Education) and came up with cutting the pictographs from linoleum blocks

After the death of Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread through the Western world and possibly to Japan. This era was named the:

Hellenistic Period

What were the two forms of writing dominated the ancient world and date back nearly 4500 years ago?

Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform

With this particular style of illumination, humans and animals were rarely, if ever, illustrated because of the religious belief that humans should not create idols to worship (aniconism).

Islamic Manuscripts

Spain's manuscript design was in influenced by which culture, using at shapes and intense color.

Islamic influence

How did format (scrolls and codices) become an indicator of religious liation in medieval Europe? Who tended to use what?

Pagans used papyrus = scrolls because you can't fold them Christians used codices, parchment that could fold and make books

How is parchment made and what is it used for?

Parchment is made from the stretching of animal skin normally cow and it was used primarily by christians to bond bibles

How is parchment made and what is it used for?

Parchment is paper made of animal skin. Christians used it because it was more book like and could fold.

Which ancient alphabet was first used by tribes from Aram and became the predecessor to the Hebrew and Arabic alphabet?

Phoenician

Why did the International Committee of the Red Cross develop different logos for the same cause?

The cross came with the connotation of relating to Christianity, so a crescent is used in Egypt and Turkey. The Red Chrystal is also used.

The term hieroglyphic is Greek for:

Sacred carving

The fear of the end of the world 1000 years after the death of Christ manifested visually in this illuminated style, such as in the image of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Spanish

As a graphic designer, why is it imperative that you understand the connotation or secondary meaning of a symbol or sign?

Symbols can have cultural meanings associated with them that could affect the audience of the piece. EX. Red Cross connotation of being Christian.

Funerary papyri were created as road maps for the ancient Egyptians to navigate the underworld. Collated, these funerary papyri became _____________________________.

The Book of the Dead

What resulted from the Carolingian revival?

The Caroline minuscule (our contemporary lowercase alphabet)

Who were the first people to produce illuminated manuscripts?

The Egyptians

What inspired his design for the CBS eye?

The Pennsylvania Dutch hex symbol

In ancient times, having this skill made you part of an elite class of people.

The ability to write

What is aniconism?

The absence of material representations of the natural and supernatural world. Not showing animals or humans.