Classical Literacy

(700 BC - 400 CE)

Introduction

This period saw great changes in the context of graphic design.  It adopted a whole new role in society.  Writing evolved a means of  Literacy shaped social statuses as well as the administrative system of various countries.  Writing became a representation of law and it came to visually distinguish the element of society that had created it.  Around the world, many variations of the alphabet continued to develope under various cultural and social influences. 

Characteristics of the Period and developements in graphic design.

• The new writing system was even a requirement for citizen ship, which demonstrated how significant a role the alphabet had created for itself.
• Tablet's and scrolls still held their place as the most common portable media.
• Copyists were employed to copy manuscripts and despite the time consumption of this process, they were widespread among the Romans and the Greeks.
• Uses of writing were all over the spectrum, from casual letters to official decrees and laws.
• Different graphical styles of writing emerged to suit different occasions.
• Graphics begun to take on a social message.
• Cursive, a new font style that mimicks elegant hand written gestures emerges.
• Constructed letters were a new style that sought to achieve beauty through rigorous attention to proportionality and other properties.
• Letter design was based on emulatable models.

Personal observation and Reflection

I am amazed at the advancements in design and visual codes.  Writing transformed from being purely communication to much more expressive in an artistic way.  Not only would this have made writing a lot more flexible, but it would also lend a degree of identity to each geographical region.  It unified people. Each could be characterized by it's writing style.  I also think that the enhanced graphicalization of writing would also help to give it a a stronger and more distinct role in society.  Imposing letters could be created for official laws where as more depressing styles could be created for funerals.  It helps to give the writing a social context and probabaly helped peopel relate to writing more.

More revolutionary than the writing advances of the period, I think is the introduction of graphics.  This was a totally new form of conveying ideas.  Unlike writing, which represented verbal speech (to some extent atleast), graphics (such as the designs Romans carved into the walls of their buildings) were a very visually elaborate approach to conveying ideas.  They appealed to the viewers imagination in a whole new way.  I think this was a very momnumental step in the history of graphic design, it really created on of the basic foundations of modern graphic design.