Applied Design for Printers Part 3

Whether the ornament you consider be naturalistic or artificial, the original source, which is the plant-form or other natural form from which the design was made, is called the _motif_ of the design. It is interesting to survey the world about you and note here and there a recognizable motif in the design of wallpaper, hangings, furniture, rugs, books, and so on all through the works of man.

The development of a motif into ornament or decoration calls for the use of all the principles thus far established, plus familiarity with the medium to be used and the inventiveness that comes only with some experience. If the reader lacks this experience and is interested in undertaking to devise ornament or decoration with pen, pencil, or brush, he is advised to consult some one or more of the books on the subject which are listed in the bibliography. If he has facility with his pencil and enthusiasm for the work he will find it a most fascinating undertaking.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 29. Initial letter decorated with natural ornament and a pen sketch treating the motif in a more realistic way. Further emphasis of the essential flatness of surface in material that is to decorate a flat sheet of paper.]

_Periods of Design Which Have Most Affected Printing_

The student of design finds that historical study of his subject carries him through the entire history of art, from the crude expressions of prehistoric man down the long and varied centuries to the styles and fancies of the present day. He will find his theme closely interwoven with the story of the development of races, the rise and fall of nations, the whole thrilling drama of ancient and modern history.

Printing, as a means of making records and of embodying and ill.u.s.trating thought, has given us the wide field of literature on design. But in the making of books as an application of design, and in the making of all other forms of printed matter, printers since Gutenberg have been influenced by relatively few of the many distinct periods through which art has come. And those few have usually been the artistic feeling which prevailed at the time the printers lived.

To trace the periods of design that have most influenced printing is to tell in part the history of the craft. Since that subject is developed elsewhere in this series, suffice it to follow briefly the steps through which the making of books has pa.s.sed.

Since the invention of movable types came opportunely to meet the desire for enlightenment by means of books, it was natural that printed books should be planned closely to imitate the hand-written or lettered books.

These latter, having been produced for centuries by the men of the church to whom had been given training in the arts, had been brought to a high state of perfection in design. It has often been said that Gutenberg's forty-two line Bible, one of the first books printed from type, has never been surpa.s.sed in pure beauty of design and in the rich quality of its type ma.s.ses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 30. A reproduction, greatly reduced, of a page from a Ma.n.u.script Bible of the early 14th Century. Entirely the product of the quill and brush of the writer and illuminator. Such books were usually done in black ink on parchment or vellum and decorated in water colors and gold leaf.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 31. A page from an illuminated Flemish ma.n.u.script of the middle 15th Century, showing characteristic treatment of ill.u.s.tration and decoration. This and the preceding example are shown for comparison with Figs. 32 and 33. They demonstrate the effect of the writing of books upon the development of printing.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 32. Type of the Mazarin Bible (exact size).]

But the first books printed from type were all of religious character, and the type itself was designed to imitate the black, condensed "text"

letter forms which had been developed by the scribes. The elaborate initial letters which marked the sundry divisions of thought were repeated by the early printers, sometimes to be illumined by hand and later as engravings on wood or metal. There was no distinct departure from the ecclesiastical style of the monks save as was necessitated by the mechanical limitations of the new process of printing. Hence came a style which marked the first years of printing with the influence of the church. And that style today can be embodied in modern work by means of typographic material, black text types, missal initials, and liberal use of color. But it will always be a.s.sociated by the power of tradition with church literature and ecclesiastical printing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 33. Reproduction of a page from Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, of which it has been said that no later book has been more beautifully designed. In completing this book and for some years after, the illuminating and decoration were done by hand, only the type being set and printed on the press.]

Perhaps it was fortunate for the future of the printing art that the upheaval in Mainz drove printers out of the restricted atmosphere in which their craft was growing. For with the spread of printing into Italy, where printers sought freer fields, there straightway came a marked change in its use. The first Roman type was cut and the printers grew under the influence of the most splendid period in the history of art, the Italian Renaissance, the revival and further development of the arts which had well-nigh perished through the dark centuries. The purity of line and form, the severe dignity, and the almost too perfect proportion which had been developed by the Greeks over a thousand years before were revived and interpreted with more human feeling by the Italians of the fifteenth century.

Just as Gutenberg, Fust and Schoeffer set a standard in ecclesiastical printing with their first efforts, so Nicholas Jenson in cutting his first Roman type established a precedent which has lived to the present day.

Designers of today find inspiration in the cla.s.sic expression of the Greeks for printed work which is to be similarly restrained and dignified. Type faces have been developed which are distinctly cla.s.sic in feeling, echoing the letter-forms of the inscriptions which were cut in stone by Greek and Roman artisans. (Figs. 35-6.)

The design of the Renaissance has been embodied in the books of many nations. Indeed, it may be said that modern book design dates from the start of printing in Italy. But, just as the fine arts have never since flourished as they did in that resplendent period, so has the progress of design in printing been a matter of the work of individuals or limited groups rather than the character of a period or a national expression.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 34. Ecclesiastical style in modern typography.]

The voluptuous vagaries of the successive French periods of design gave little lasting distinction to contemporary printing.

Type faces were cut at various times and by men of different nationalities which have marked characteristics, but they are not to be noted as establishing periods or styles in printing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 35. An inscription in Cla.s.sic Roman. Study opposite ill.u.s.tration.]

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries printing in England grew into forms of expression which have been recognized under the term of "Georgian" or "colonial." The first editions of Shakespeare typify the earlier development of this style, which was marked by poor typographical materials that were nevertheless arranged in a direct and interesting manner. (Fig. 37.)

A few years later the growth of printing in the American colonies brought this form of typographic expression into most of the printed matter which has been preserved. The museums of printing and the literature dealing with the times are rich with examples. See Figs. 39 to 41.

Through the ensuing decades printing developed mechanically, but it lapsed into styles which had little or no relationship to design. It is interesting historically to follow the efforts of the printers who rode on the first steamboats and railroad trains; who recorded the rise and fall of slavery and secession; who bent their rules and jumbled their type faces during the "early Pullman days" that marked the start of many modern successful printers. The history of the craft through all these times has been picturesque and closely identified with the growth of the country. But it has little or no significance for the designer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 36. Forum, a Cla.s.sic Roman type, designed by Mr. F.

W. Goudy.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 37. t.i.tle page, much reduced, of a Shakespeare first folio, showing the Georgian style of typography. The types were poorly fitted and of uncertain alignment. The "stock" ornaments, cut on wood, were often bruised and worn. Yet there is undeniable charm in the result.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 38. An early American page, dated 1685, showing the influence of the Georgian style upon the Colonial printers. An improvement in mechanical quality may be noted. Large capitals, a profusion of italics, and frequent use of cross rules mark this period of printing.]

Design in printing has suffered through the marvelous mechanical development of machines and devices whose sole purpose has been to multiply gross output. Necessary as sheer volume of production has been, it has remained for very recent years to witness a renewal of interest in the beauty of printing, as determined by the principles of design.

William Morris, in England, devoted a very few years, toward the end of his life, to a protest against the commonplace and mechanical qualities which had dominated printing previously. He revived many of the old traditions and marked his books with his strong personality. We owe much of our present wide-spread reverence for good design in printing to his influence, even as we are similarly indebted to him for the well-designed and useful appurtenances of our daily life which have supplanted twisted and distorted furniture, stuffed birds under gla.s.s jars, and all the atrocities of a generation or two ago. See Figs.

Among the present-day designers of printing whose work shows an intimate study of the principles and the traditions of the craft are such men as Rogers, Updike, Goudy, Cleland, and Currier. The product of their work may frequently be seen in reproductions in the trade publications. It should be studied by younger designers, for it shows the results of earnest and understanding effort to make modern printing reach and even pa.s.s the artistic standards which were established nearly five hundred years ago.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 39. Page from Poor Richard's Almanack, one of the best known of the Colonial publications. Its style is typical of that period.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 40. Ill.u.s.trating the period of transition from the true Colonial style. Type and material are obviously improved in mechanical qualities, but the compositor must have been seeking for "something new" in typography.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 41. Showing a typical t.i.tle page composed at the beginning of the decline of typography in America. During almost the entire 19th Century there was neither reason nor design in most of the printing produced.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figs. 42 and 43. Facing pages from "The Tale of Beowulf,"

as designed and printed by William Morris. The small reproductions give but a suggestion of the Morris conception of book-making.

After a century or more of the most haphazard printing, Morris revived the traditions of the first book-makers, thereby stimulating a world-wide renewal of interest in typography and design.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 44. Page designed by Mr. Bruce Rogers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 45. t.i.tle page by Mr. F. W. Goudy.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 46. Folder cover arranged by Mr. T. M. Cleleand.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 47. Catalogue page by Mr. D. B. Updike.]

SUPPLEMENTARY READING