Graphic Design before Graphic Designers (Hardcover)

David Jury

ISBN 10: 0500516464 / ISBN 13: 9780500516461

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2012

About this Item

Hardcover. Graphic design existed long before there were any graphic designers and this lavish volume is a vibrant tribute to beautifully crafted printed ephemera from the past. The art of combining text and pictures has been at the heart of the printer's craft for hundreds of years. While early pioneers focused on books, others began using their presses for more humble uses, from handbills to games, advertisements and packaging. This so-called 'jobbing' work grew rapidly in importance, yet has been overlooked in histories of both print and graphic design.Graphic Design before Graphic Designers is a visual journey through the pre-history of graphic design, charting the printer's progress from tradesman to the hallowed status of artistic printer.Showcasing work from a host of anonymous talents as well as seminal, pioneering typographers, artists and printers such as Bodoni, William Morris and Oscar Harpel, it reveals how those working on both sides of the Atlantic responded to everyday communication issues with original solutions and breathtaking flair and skill.The extraordinarily diverse result is a cultural feast of the jobbing printer's contribution to visual culture and heritage. International in scope, this book charts the evolution of print into graphic design between 1700 and 1914. With around 850 illustrations, many specially photographed from private collections, it is of interest to graphic designers, design and social historians, as well as collectors of print and printed emphemera alike. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780500516461

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Graphic Design before Graphic Designers (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500516464
• ISBN 13: 9780500516461
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A comprehensive retelling of the history of printing from 1700 to 1914 and a cornucopia of visual and technical extravagance

Who first coined the phrase “graphic design,” a term dating from the 1920s, or first referred to themselves as a “graphic designer” are issues still argued to this day. What is certain is that the kinds of printed material a graphic designer could create were around long before the formulation of such a convenient, if sometimes troublesome, term. Here David Jury explores how the “jobbing” printer who produced handbills, posters, catalogues, advertisements, and labels in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries was the true progenitor of graphic design, rather than the “noble presses” of the Arts and Crafts movement. Based on original research and aided by a wealth of delightful and fully captioned examples that reveal the extraordinary skill, craft, design sense, and intelligence of those who created them, the book charts the evolution of “print” into “graphic design.” It will be of lasting interest to graphic designers, design and social historians, and collectors of print and printed ephemera alike. 779 illustrations, 560 in color

About the Author

David Jury is an award-winning graphic designer, and head of the MA course Art, Design, and the Book at the Colchester Institute in England. His previous books include Typography Today.