Chapter 6 & 7- The German Illustrated Book & Renaissance Graphic Design

In Chapter 6, we were supposed to look at the sections dealing with Albrecht Durer and Martin Luther.  Albrecht Durer is a famous printer in the Graphic Design world.  He created the Apocalypse, which has 'an unprecedented emotional power and graphic expressiveness (p.84).' His views changed slightly after traveling throughout Europe.  His interactions with the Italian Renaissance allowed him to experiment with theoretical knowledge.  Thus leading into his first book, A Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler.  This book did a great job explaining the mathematics of typography, which allowed more people to understand how to write.  After the Bible was printed for many to enjoy and study, people across Europe began to contradict the views of religious leaders; and decided to partake in their own beliefs of the Bible.  Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses for debate on a church door, it had such power that it was eventually put into the printing press.  This made his views available to people everywhere, eventually making him famous.

I think this is one of the most significant things that have shown the importance of the printing press in my views.  I am a Lutheran (not devout my any means) and have slight familiarity with Martin Luther's story.  However, I can really see the importance of the printing press at this time period because without it, who knows if religion would have ever been contradicted.  Martin Luther's ideas never would have been seen around the world, not in the short amount of time that it did anyways.  Clearly this is a huge part of our history since our history is based on religion and our understandings/interpretations of life.

Chapter 7 discusses how the Italian Renaissance affected graphic design.  This chapter explains what a Renaissance is and what makes it different from the rest of the art periods.  The difference lies mainly in the floral decoration, which was applied to furniture, architecture, artwork and manuscripts.  It's quite evident how typefaces are becoming more legible and easier to interpret because of the newly improved kerning.  Renaissance also relates to the change in philsophical humanism.  An important date to retrieve from this book is the early 1500's, in which pocket books were first printed.  Renaissance man Geoffroy Troy is also explained in this book because he had a huge impact on the Graphic Design world.

I think it's interesting how the decline for hand-printed articles lost work for many artists, but yet at the same time the need for illustrators increased.  Only the best master calligraphers were used because the work was very intricate and the need for new and true beauty was high.