A/F Annotation 1
Being a designer only accustomed to the digital age, I had to do some research into how typography was created at the time. Many resources talk about typographic styles over time, but few touch on the tools and techniques actually used.
Fonts were drawn and designed by hand, then carved and cast into lead, or for some larger applications wood. Up until the 1970s continuous casting machines such as the Linotype allowed printers to speed up printing time. Operators would type in characters creating a single line of text that would be cast into lead.
Later phototypesetting became available. This technique involved small characters on a film strip. Letters could be projected and scaled on to photosensitive materials.
At the time of Ambition/Fear digital typography was getting it's start. Fonts could be stored and created on a computer. Although there are countless digital typography tools that allow the creation of crisp vector letterforms, many typographers still start their process on paper. Handmade typography is not dead either. In fact with the help of social media it has seen a bit of a boom. Ale Paul attributes this rise to the fact that "the mechanical/digital is a given, because that’s where everyone works, we’re trying to tone things back to the original handmade, while at the same time looking for ways to make it fit within our own time".
A/F Annotation 2
Certainly computers were a great addition to the designer's life, but how accessible were they to everyone? Looking back at the Apple Macintosh, one of the first computers with design software, it retailed for $2,495 in 1984. In 2020 that same computer would cost around $6,042. So this early democratization of design seems a bit cost prohibitive for some. 🤔
A/F Annotation 3
The computer may have kept typographers from more labor intensive methods of creation, but they must still create and draw every letterform in a typeface. Number of characters have also grown as designers create typefaces for multi-language support. While methods of creation have changed, the process is still just as laborious.
A/F Annotation 4
Once again, with my lack of experience in print, I had to learn what a typesetter and color separator are.
During the letter press era, movable type was cast in metal and individual sorts, or letters, were kept and organized in a case. Workers would set each sort or letter of a text into frames. What is even more mind numbing to me is making sure to organize each sort properly after printing. Today typesetting is still practiced as an artform, since programs such as Adobe InDesign have taken over the digital type setting market.
Color separation is the process of dividing a colored image into print colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. While most of this is done automatically by modern printers, it appears color separation jobs still exist for screen printing companies.
A/F Annotation 5
While this has sped up the design process and given designers more control, also consider the effect this has had on expectations of a designer. Corporate greed has caused the required experience for designers to only increase. Creative suite, social media, photography, video, HTML, CSS, UI, UX are all terms that have been piling up in job descriptions of today.
A/F Annotation 6
This made me wonder: what is naïve about cave paintings? We tend to have an inferior view of our early ancestors, but analysis of their artwork proves otherwise. In a paper The Superior Visual Perception Hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of Cave Art researchers point our that "normal brain function of modern man rarely supports the creation of highly detailed paintings..." Furthermore "the ability to perceive, imagine and retrieve the necessary visual information from previous episodes of viewing live animals is normally far beyond the capabilities of modern man".
The Superior Visual Perception Hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of Cave ArtA/F Annotation 7
Technology once again is seen as a blessing and a curse. Production is increase, expectations are higher, and here comes the bane of every designer's existence: endless revisions. The blame of endless revisions is not solely on the client, there are preventative measures designers can exercise, but a correlation can be drawn form an increase in production to an increase in client expectation. How many times has your client thought a change was simple or easy? Technology has helped us tackle complex projects, but it has not given us the magic wand our clients wish we had.
A/F Annotation 8
Let's take a gander at how type is now purchased and licensed. In our digital age more protection has been put in place to compensate type designers, and rightfully so. Digital fonts and typefaces can be easily copied and shared that a lot of work is put into protecting their creators.
Some common license types:
- Desktop: sold per desktop machine, this license allows you to use the font for any offline work, (e.g. logos, posters, flyers, business cards, the traditional brand materials and such)
- Commercial: this license may be required if the desktop license does not allow use for hire or clients.
- Webfont: specifically for type used on websites, foundries may charge per page view or for a certain duration of usage.
A/F Annotation 9
Could the existence of our beloved Comic Sans in 1994 be attributed to this liberation in type design? The intentionally playful design of the font, intended for use in cartoon speech bubbles, could indicate a greater freedom both in design and time for designers.
A/F Annotation 10
Sharing of ideas and design via print is definitely a benefit of personal computing. A downside of this activity is the waste created by printing. In retrospect it is easier to be critical of this, but toner and ink production and disposal has had various environmental impacts.
A 2010 study by Preton states:
- "It takes 12-24 trees to manufacture one ton of paper resulting in an average of 18 trees cutdown for every 10 employees per year."
- "It takes a gallon of fossil oil to produce one laser cartridge, and 2-1/2 ounces of oil to manufacture each new inkjet cartridge"
- "Studies show a clear rise in the concentration of ozone, VOCs and ultrafine particles (UFPs) during operation of printers as compared to idle mode"
A/F Annotation 11
As mentioned in other comments, high cost and lack of public use of computers initially proved as a strong barrier to entry for the under-privaledged. Diversity was only created within the bounds of those with access to technology, and only in terms of more experimental designs being produced by the privaledged.
A/F Annotation 12
Phone lines have become a part of our landscape. So run of the mill that we hardly recognize them. Additional phone lines and subsequently cellular towers have shaped our environment from cities to rural areas.
Power lines came about since Thomas Edison's attempt to bring DC electricity to the masses. Edison found above ground power lines were cheaper and easier to install. Old images of power lines show a spider web of cables. Today some are running power and phone lines underground, and many are in favor of this practice. George Dodds certainly is, he points out that "often they are located dangerously close to the edges of roads intended to carry vehicles at much slower speeds than today’s traffic. Hence, we’ve become accustomed to cars and trucks plowing into them and causing intermittent power outages, property damage, personal injuries, loss of productivity, loss of life".
You can visualize the number of cellular towers based on carrier via cellularmapper.net. Cellular towers have had their own impact on our world, and are particularly hazardous to aircraft.
Cellular MapperNot all hope is lost, as many towers are hidden in plain sight. They may take the shape of faux trees, or be inside signs, water towers, or even flag poles.
Stealth TowersA/F Annotation 13
Piracy is as easy as copy/paste with computers. Not so easy with print materials. Data can be manipulated and it can be hard to tell who was the original author. Content today is stolen and recycled so many times that the first person to post it is rarely remembered.
Copyright law has cone a long way since 1989. While the 1976 revision to the US Copyright act took strides to define new technology and how it might be used to rightfully or wrongfully copy other's work, it wasn't until the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act where technology as we know today was brought into copyright law.
A/F Annotation 14
Speaking of access to data, data privacy is a complicated topic. Not everyone has access to the same public data on the internet period. Myanmar, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, China and Iran all have national intranets. This government run internet monitors the activity of it's citizens and controls what goes in and out.
National IntranetWhile some might have access to all of the internet, there might be further barriers such as cost. Internet service is one thing, but in some countries users must pay for certain packages to view the sites and apps they need. Service providers can price gouge and discriminate users for access to sites like social media, music streaming, and messaging. We often take for granted our "net neutrality", which has been a topic in the US since the 90s, but has recently come up again. In 2017 the FCC reversed multiple net neutrality rulings, and opened the court again.
Net NeutralityA/F Annotation 15
This same argument could be made by AI generated design and art today. Many AI creations could very well be perceived as human made. We seem to be repeating this theme today. Just like this text is advocating for the use of technology in design, and calling out naysayers, advocates for AI could make similar arguments.
A/F Annotation 16
The world of Microsoft Paint art and Excel art further support this sentiment. With regards to the fact that it does not matter the medium of art, and that course digital imagery can still produce stunning results.
Tatsuo Horiuchi Excel ArtMicrosoft Paint Art
Designing Design
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Designing Design
Kenya Hara - 2007
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN
Where does design stand today? The remarkable progress of information technology has thrown our society into great turmoil. The computer promises, we believe, to dramatically increase human ability1, and the world has overreacted to potential environmental change in that computer-filled future. In spite of the fact that our rockets have only gone as far as the moon, the world busies itself with worries and preparations for intergalactic travel.
The cold war between East and West is over, and the world long ago began revolving on the unspoken standard of economic might. In a world in which economic power accounts for the majority of our values2, people believe that the best plan for preserving that power is to respond quickly to forecasted changes to the environment. Convinced of a paradigm shift to rival the Industrial Revolution3, people are so worried about missing the bus that they beat their brains out trying to get to a new place, but are only acting on precepts of precomputer education.
In a world in which the motive force is the desire to get the jump on the next person, to reap the wealth computer technology is expected to yield, people have no time to leisurely enjoy the actual benefits and treasures already available4, and in leaning so far forward in anticipation of the possibilities, they've lost their balance and are in a highly unstable situation, barely managing to stay upright as they fall forward into their next step.
Apparently, people think they shouldn't criticize technological progress5. It may be that deeply seated in the consciousness of our contemporaries is an obsession of a sort, to the effect that those who contradicted the Industrial Revolution or the machine civilization were thought of as lacking in foresight and were looked down upon. That's why people have such a hard time speaking out against flaws that are likely felt by everyone. This is probably because they're afraid that anyone who grumbles about technology will be thought and anachronism. Society has no mercy for those who can’t keep up with the times6.
However, at the risk of being misunderstood, I have to say that technology ought to evolve more slowly and steadily. It would be best if it took the time to mature, through trial and error 7. We are so excessively and frantically competitive that we have repeatedly planted unsteady systems in unsteady ground, which have evolved into a variety of trunk systems that are weak and liable to fail, but have been left to develop anyway. Having no way to stop, they barrel down the track, completely exhausted. People have wrapped themselves in this unhealthy technological environment and are accumulating more stress every day8. Technology continues to advance and has multiplied beyond the amount knowable by a single individual; its entirety can be neither grasped nor seen, and it’s so vast its edges fade from view. There is nothin aesthetically appealing about communication or the practice of making things when their ideology and education remain unable to cope with this situation, but just continue on their familiar trodden paths.
The computer is not a tool but a material9. So says John Maeda, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The implication is that we shouldn't use computers on the manner of just swallowing whatever software comes along, but need to think deeply and carefully about what kind of intellectual world can be cultivated based on this new material that operates with numbers. I think his suggestion deserves our respect. For any material to become a superb material, we need to purify its distinguishing attributes as much as possible10. As a material for modeling and carving, clay has endless plasticity, but that limitless plasticity is not unrelated to the material’s development. If it were filled with nails or other shards of metal, we wouldn’t be able to knead it to a usable consistency. These days it’s as if we’re kneading the clay until our hands bleed. I have trouble believing that anything generated in this kind of impossible situation is going to bring any satisfaction to our lives11.
Design today has been given the role of presenting the latest innovations of technology and here, too, is strained. Design, which is accustomed to showing its strength in “making what’s fresh today look old tomorrow” as well as bringing novel fruits to a table full of curious diners, is further exacerbating its contortions, in obedience to the new technology.
BEYOND MODERNISM
Digging a little deeper into the relationship between technology and communication, some designers have begun to rethink the possibilities of the quality of information; putting aside the rough information that swirls around like dust on the internet and clings to our monitors, they have recognized the profundity of the quality of information perceptible only when the senses become mobilized. A symbolic example is the attention in recent years that the field of cognitive science (which studies virtual reality) has showered on the “haptic” senses12 – those besides sight and hearing. The very delicate human senses have begun to become very important in the forefront of technology13. Human beings and the environment being equally tangible, the comfort as well as the satisfaction we sense is based on how we appreciate and cherish our communication with the world via our diverse sensory organs. In terms of this perspective, the paired fields of design and technology and of design and science are headed in the same direction. I specialize in communication but have come to think that the ideal of this discipline is not trying to catch the audience’s eye with an arresting image, but having the image permeate the five senses14. This is communication that is very elusive, yet solid and therefore tremendously powerful, which succeeds before we even realize it’s there.
Ambition / Fear
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Ambition / Fear
Zuzana Licko and Rudy Vanderlans | 1989
Visions of bold-italic-outline-shadow Helvetica "Mac" tricks have sent many graphic designers running back to their T-squares and rubber cement1. Knowing how and when to use computers is difficult, since we have only begun to witness their capabilities. Some designers have found computers. a creative salvation from the boredom2 of familiar methodologies, while others have utilized this new technology to expedite traditional production processes. For this eleventh issue of Emigre we interviewed fifteen graphic designers from around the world and talked about how they work their way through the sometimes-frustrating task of integrating this new technology into their daily practices.
Computer technology provides opportunities for more specialization as well as integration. Today, less peripheral knowledge and skills are required to master a particular niche. For instance, a type designer is no longer required to be a creative mind as well as a skilled punch cutter3. There is also the possibility of better communication, allowing for increased crossover between disciplines. Designers can control all aspects of production and design, no longer requiring an outside typesetter or color separator4.
Text, image, and layout all exist as manifestations of the same medium, and the capability of simultaneously editing text and composing the layout will influence both design and writing styles. It is now possible for one individual to take on all functions required in publishing, including writer, editor, designer, and illustrator, thus bringing together a variety of disciplines and consequently streamlining production5.
The integration of previously isolated disciplines makes computer aided design a seamless continuum of activity similar to that experienced by children. In fact, computer technology has advanced the state of graphic art by such a quantum leap into the future that it has brought the designer back to the most primitive of graphic ideas and methods. It's no wonder that our first computer-generated art usually resembles that of naïve cave paintings!6 This return to our primeval ideas allows us to reconsider the basic assumptions made in the creative design process, bringing excitement and creativity to aspects of design that have been forgotten since the days of letterpress. We are once again faced with evaluating the basic rules of design that we formerly took for granted.
With computers many options of type combinations, sizes, and spacings can be quickly and economically reviewed. However, the time saved in the production stage is often spent viewing more design solutions7. Thus today's designers must learn to discriminate intelligently among all of the choices, a task requiring a solid understanding of fundamentals. Computer use also brings about a new breed of designers who possess the ability to integrate various media. Those individuals previously hinged between disciplines will find that digital technology allows them that crossover necessary for their personal expression. One such new area is that of digital type design8. Custom typefaces can now be produced letter by letter as called for in day-by-day applications. This increases the potential more personalized typefaces as it becomes economically feasible to create letterforms for specific uses9.
By making publishing and dissemination of information faster and less expensive, computer technology has made it feasible to reach a smaller audience more effectively. It is no longer necessary to market for the lowest common denominator. There is already a growth in the birthrate of small circulation magazines and journals10. Although this increases diversity and subsequently the chances of tailoring the product to the consumer11, we can only hope that such abundance will not obliterate our choices by over- whelming us with options. Computers are phenomenally adept at storing information, but the current rate of its amassment is making a frightening task out of distilling knowledge from these huge data banks. Raw information becomes meaningful only when we can access it in a comprehensive.
The storage and transmission of text and images is also becoming progressively less physical as data is sent over phone lines12 and accessed through computer terminals. Digital data is easily modifiable, and it is difficult to draw the lines of ownership and copyrights. Problems of piracy are already evident in areas of program development13, type design, and illustration. For example, some illustrators using digital media now opt to submit hard-copy artwork to clients rather than disk versions, fearing that their illustrations could be copied and manipulated into a misrepresentation of their work without deserved royalties. This brings up numerous previously unaddressed questions over ownership of data and our rights to use or even alter it14.
But what separates digital art from its analog counterparts aesthetically?15 Mostly it is our perception. There is nothing intrinsically “computer-like” about digitally generated images. Low-end devices such as the Macintosh do not yield a stronger inherent style than do the high-end Scitex systems, which are often perceived as functioning invisibly and seamlessly. This merely shows what computer virgins we are. High-end computers have been painstakingly programmed to mimic traditional techniques such as airbrushing or calligraphy, whereas the low-end machines force us to deal with more original, sometimes alien, manifestations. Coarse bitmaps are no more visibly obtrusive than the texture of oil paint on a canvas16, but our unfamiliarity with bitmaps causes us to confuse the medium message. Creating a graphic language with today's tools will mean forgetting the styles of archaic technologies and remembering the very basics of design principles.
This is perhaps the most exciting of times for designers. Digital technology is a great big unknown, and after all, a mystery is the most stimulating force in unleashing the imagination
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Text and Annotations:
To read the annotated text click on either document on the desktop. Click on the underlined text to view the annotation. Drag the text an annotations as you need.
Recycle Bin:
The recycle bin reflects one of the pains of a designer: endless revisions. As Ambition/Fear brings up, technology left more time for iterating design.
Changing Background:
To change backgrounds go to Start -> Settings. Choose your favorite background color or texture. The textures available are original to Windows 95.
Looking to the Future:
These texts look towards the future, using technology to break from the standards and explore the vast expanse the computer provides. In an attempt to illustrate this concept, you may go to Start -> Shut Down to turn off this prehistoric emulation.
DD Annotation 1
This depends on how we define human ability. If the ability is simply to produce, then sure a computer can help a singular person create and produce more, but if the ability is referring to, say, artistic ability or competence in the craft of design, that must still be learned the good old fashioned way, even today in 2023.
DD Annotation 2
We’ve seen time and time again the truth behind this statement. Those economies and associated cultures dominated the world. Our system of global trade is set up to favor these conglomerates. Spreading their products, goods, and subsequently their culture.
DD Annotation 3
What were people at the time predicting? The industrial revolution brought strong change to the way we work, our environment, and even our leisure. I imagine people were concerned about a lack of work due to the capabilities of computers? Yes computers and automation have replaced jobs, but the displaced have typically found employment in parallel or new fields. Then where does the tipping point of no return exist? When will technology take over any profession?
Some research suggests AI will be conducting surgeries by 2053.
On the other hand, Ana Rico sensibly states "robots will likely get better and better at handling uncertainty in perception, decision making, and action. But at the end of the day — barring a wholesale robot takeover — the jobs robots do will be the jobs we let them do"
Will Robots Take our JobsDD Annotation 4
While labor laws enacted sine the Industrial Revolution have helped keep children out of coal mines, and reduced work hours to an agreeable level, Americans are still drastically overworked. It seems tech has only set the bar higher for workplace productivity and corporate greed.
Some shocking data:
- "Without vacation/holidays, full-time male employees in the U.S. would work an average of 2,353 hours per year and full-time female employees in the U.S. would work an average of 2,152 hours per year"
- "Using data by the U.S. BLS, the productivity per American worker has increased 434% since 1950"
- "The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave"
Lets count our blessings though, as other countries such as Tanzania work an average of 54 hours per week. In fact the United States is no where near the top 10 of most weekly hours worked.
Hardest Working Countries
DD Annotation 5
One prime of example of a culture questioning technology would be the Amish. The Amish community started with the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe, which lead to the division of various Protestant sects. Protestants further congregated into Anabaptism, Anglicanism, Calvinism, and Lutheranism. Anabaptists, amongst many other protestants fled Europe throughout the 17th century.
The Amish, a type of Anabaptist, initially settled in Pennsylvania for religious freedom and fertile land. Amish communities established their own set of rules and order. This included the belief that technology could lead community members away from their tight knit practice.
The rules over technology usage in the Amish faith vary from one community to the other. Many members today use technology sparingly as a business tool
How the Amish use TechnologyDD Annotation 6
Age discrimination can be viewed through this lens. While it is illegal to ask someone their age during an interview, the "gray ceiling" still exists.
Personally I've witnessed this at my company. I've seen two older coworkers singled out and removed from the company for "not fitting the needs of the team", when in reality they were great senior team members. Once removed, a ton of knowledge was gone form the team. This made it difficult for people like myself to take over their duties, not to mention the increase in workload.
DD Annotation 7
Unfortunately this notion will never occur, at least not in our capitalist society. According to Moore's law, the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. In essence Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, predicted that our computing processing speed would double in this time frame.
This rapid iteration of technology leaves us with obsolete technology in only a few years. Corporations take advantage of this by releasing a new, slightly better, product every year or so. Incorporating methods of planned obsolescence, our constant creation of new tech also creates mountains of hazardous waste.
DD Annotation 8
Mental health and technology has been in the spotlight for quite some time. The addictive nature of technology, especially social media, can pull users in subconsciously. Companies profit off a user's time, so the more addictive the content the higher the profits.
Constant use of social media is known to cause heath issues such as stress, anxiety, isolation, and depression.
DD Annotation 9
This concept could be elaborated further. The computer as a whole has several components, and what appears to be the most similar to a material is the software. The hardware of a computer, the case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse may be customized and shaped, but overall remain consistent in operation throughout their existence.
Software on the other hand is what is easily shaped, formed, and perfected.
DD Annotation 10
Bugs in software present themselves as splinters in the material that is the computer. These bugs are eventually sanded down to create a smooth experience, or they are left untouched and hurt the user or an entire infrastructure. In 1991 a bug in the code of the Patriot Missile battery caused a delay in tracking an incoming missile. The incoming missile was not destroyed as the Patriot system was designed, and cost the life of 28 Americans.
Famous Software BugsDD Annotation 11
Technology has only set the standards of corporate production higher year after year. As a result we've witnessed the genesis of "corporate burnout". As the Mayo Clinic puts it, "job burnout is a special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity".
Constant churning of our technological clay has exacerbated our exhaustion with the corporate world.
DD Annotation 12
A slight impact of technology on our senses are phantom vibrations. You know, that feeling you get where it feels as if your phone just vibrated or rang, but it never did? Our senses have become so in tune with our tech devices that our bodies unconsciously crave their stimulation. A 2018 study found that of 93 medical student interns, 60% had experienced phantom vibrations. Of the same group, 42% had experienced phantom ringing as well.
StudyDD Annotation 13
While more senses are being stimulated through audio and haptic feedback, we have seen a decrease in visual complexity and stimulation. Flatter and simpler user interfaces have taken hold, as if to say society is over-stimulated from booms in personal devices and social networking.
Derived from the Swiss Style, flat UI was beginning it's journey in 2006 with the Microsoft Zune. Later in 2011Android operating systems began to appear flatter, while Apple followed suit in 2013 with the launch of iOS7.
DD Annotation 14
AR and VR have skyrocketed in popularity with more portable and realistic simulation capabilities. Visual communication has always seen challenges or misunderstandings arise from the viewer being detached from the designer. Now with immersive technology the designer may create an entire environment that allows the user to experience more than ever before, limiting holes for miscommunication.
