IT IS ALL ABOUT PRODUCTION !

A Brief History of Production

A double-page spread of
Gutenberg's Bible

Production has undergone a monumental transformation and has evolved to bring it a step closer to perfection. Printmaking is a very important means of production as it enables us to freely communicate visually in order to convey a message. That being said, there are various printmaking techniques used such as woodcut printmaking, engraving, etching, mezzotint, monoprint among many others.  

Johannes Gutenberg

 Nevertheless, despite the earliest printed book said to have been the Diamond Sutra (in Asia) in about 400 A.D by means of woodcut printmaking, the first book ever printed in Europe was the Bible in 1455 by Johannes Gutenberg subsequently to his invention of the movable type printing press. The device was contrived in 1440 and works with the application of pressure to an inked surface resting on a print medium (paper, cloth…), transferring the ink as a result. Gutenberg developed apparatus and techniques for molding letters from matrices using an instrument called the hand mould.

Gutenberg's first print-press

To print the Bible, red and black ink were used as part of the rubricating process, with several sheets printed twice. He developed an oil-based ink proving ideal for metal type as opposed to water-based inks used by scribes. The type was a number of unique characters, each with both uppercase and lowercase forms; the printing of the Bible thus required the use of 290 characters.

All in all production was once a very long process, which required a lot of patience and meticulous precision that nowadays appears to be hard to come by.

The Experts    

From the experts listed, the work of Neville Brody caught my attention. Firstly, I completely agree with his point of view on design.

“There is no such thing as bad design – 

                  only inappropriate design”

Design is mostly subjective and cannot appeal to everyone, but that doesn’t make it bad design.

Brody’s work has definitely enabled him to qualify as an expert in the field because he has grasped how to get a message out by grabbing the attention of viewers, thereby intriguing them to look closer by his clever combination of type and image manipulation.

His work shows diversity and more importantly experimentation. It was condemned back at university by his tutors who emphasized more economically safe strategies as opposed to a more free expression through experimentation. He has worked on the artwork in the music industry, magazine cover designs (Time, The Guardian…) and what’s more, he has pushed boundaries, creating new typefaces in order to find new ways of communicating using visual text. Having obtained a Fine Art Foundation and a Printing Degree Brody has broadened his creative mind, which is reflected in his strongly expressive creations.

To put it in a nutshell, it is by the means of experimentation with type as well as image in addition to working for magazine, music records and pushing the limits to create new and original productions that Neville Brody has earned his name to be part of the experts for aspiring artists of the field to be inspired by.