The Codex and the Illuminated Manuscript | 1st century AD

Post an example of a scroll.
 

What were the drawbacks of the scroll?They only allowed sequential usage.
 

Post an example of a codex.

 

What is a codex?A covered and bound collection of hand-written pages.
 

"Codex" is derived from the Latin meaning "block of wood". Why?Because it had compactness and sturdiness.
 

What is the difference between "sequential access" and "random access"?Random- one can go to any point to find information.

Sequential- one must go through the scroll to find a certain passage.
 

What were the advantages of using the codex?Easier to organize in libraries.
 

What helped spread the use of the codex?The bible.
 

What replaced papyrus? Describe the process used to create it?Parchment, made from animal skins. The hair was removed and skin was smoothed out, hide was soaked in water, calcium, flour, and salt were added, skin was stretched out, flattened and dried.
 

What is vellum?Finer qualities of parchment made from cat skins.
 

Name several examples of current technology that utilizes the format of the codex?Kindle, iPad, digital books. 
 

What led to a period of cultural and economical deterioration?The decline of the Roman Empire resulted in fewer books being created.
 

Post an example of an illuminated manuscript.

 

Who began creating books by hand, taking the creation to an art form?

Monastic monks
 

What does "illumination" refer to? What was included in this ornamentation?Refers to the borders, illustrations, and ornamentation added to each page of text.
 

What tool was used for creating the illuminated manuscripts? Natural quill pens.
 

Why were these manuscripts reserved for religious purposes?Because the work was laborious.
 

What is craftsmanship? Why is it important?

The skill in an occupation. It's important because these manuscripts were very elegant and needed to be perfect.

The Roman Alphabet | 7th century BC

What was the basis of the Roman uppercase alphabet?

Latin
 

What were the purposes of the formal and informal styles of lettering? 

Formal was used for important manuscripts and official documents; informal was used for letters and routine types of writing.
 

Why is the Roman alphabet the most widely used and what contributions did it make?

Contribution to typeface.
 

From where did serifs originate? 

When they wrote on the stones.

When and where did lowercase, or minuscule, letters develop? 

Off the baseline of typography.
 

What is a ligature and why were they utilized? 

It made letters easier to distinguish.
 

Post an example of the Roman alphabet in visual form.

The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians? 
The adaptation of the phoenician letterforms, traveled to greece
 
How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor? 
Much less suitable for Greek languages, several of the consonants were adapted as vowels, additional letters were added.
 
Why is the Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet?
It has given rise to many other alphabets including the Latin alphabet.
 
Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets? 
A lot of the letters are the exact same except for some letters with overall or slight changes.
 
Post an example of the Greek alphabet in visual form.   

The Phoenician Alphabet | 1050 BC

The Phoenician alphabet is based on what principle? 

Based on principle that one sign represents one spoken sound.
 

Describe the shape of the letters and what tool created them?

Angular and straight, incised with a stylus.
 

What two reasons made the Phoenician alphabet so successful?

Its simplicity allowed it to be used in multiple languages, and it also allowed common people to learn how to write.
 

What long term effects on the social structures of civilizations did the Phoenicians have with the creation of their alphabet?

Disintegrated class divisions between royalty and the common people
 

Post an example of the Phoenician alphabet in visual form.

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt? Persians, Greeks, and the Romans. 

Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
 











What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
 Carved and painted images on every wall and surface.
 
Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language?
Egyptian hieroglyphics  

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements? 
Logographic- visual symbols representing ideas or objects generally stylized and simplified but perfectly recognizable.
Alphabetic- language evolved into demotic. 

The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words?
Hiero- sacred and Glyphic- engraving or writing 

What is a scribe? 
Schools where students learned to read and write. 

Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
Military leaders, so they could communicate while in battle.

Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.
 
 
















What is papyrus and how was it made? 
Substrate made from reeds native to Egypt. Made by placing wet reeds criss-cross over each other and flattened then dried. Then rubbed with flat stones until the surface becomes smooth.  

What is a substrate?
A substance or layer that underlies something, or on which some process occurs, in particular.

What were the Books of the Dead?
Books commissioned by the users themselves before death.  

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language? 
By the times the Greeks and Romans ruled Egypt few Egyptians were capable of reading or writing them. Over time those who could read and write them disappeared until no one knew how to decipher the ancient language. 

Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.
 
 
















What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
A stone found that had inscriptions written on it in 3 different languages.  

What three languages are included on the stone? 
Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek.
 
Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered?Because a chunk of the stone was missing and none of the 3 texts were complete. 

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough?
Jean Francois Champollion. He could match up the hieroglyphic symbols with the Greek version of the name Egyptian Pharoah Ramses. Found that inscription referred to King Ptolemy V epiphanies at the time of his coronation around 196 BC. 

Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance? 
We now know a great deal about the ancient Egyptians and their hieroglyphics.

Cuneiform and the Sumerians | 3,000 BC

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean?

Nomadic Civilizations, this means they migrated to Sumer.
 

Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization?Because it is where Cuneiform was created- world's first written language.

What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate?

Agriculture.
 

Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph).
 

 

Why was Cuneiform created?

To help track all the business transactions.
 

What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface?

Clay tablets: wet the clay, form it into flat surfaces, use a wedge shaped stylus made from reeds to make impressions into the clay surface, lay clay tablets in sun to fry and harden.

What did Cuneiform begin as a series of?

Pictographs
 

Post an example of evolved Cuneiform (wedge-shaped).
 

 

After it evolved over time, what shape did the characters of Cuneiform evolve into?Wedge-shaped
 

Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.

 

After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language?It was adopted by the Akkadians.
 

What is a pictograph?A pictorial symbol for a word or phrase.
 

Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture?

Because it was a very formal language.

Visual Organization

~Not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them.
Eye movement:

• The typical eye moves from left to right and top to bottom. 
• Control an eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye.
• The eye tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first. 
• In pictures of people, our eyes are always attracted to the face especially the eyes.
• Light areas of a composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area.
• Diagonal lines or edges will guide your eye movement. 

Optical Center: 

• The spot where the eye tends to enter the page. It is slightly above the normal center and just to the left. 
• It takes a very compelling element to pull the eye away from this spot.

Z Pattern:

• Our visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally in the shape of a "Z".
•  Significant items go at the top, insignificant go towards the bottom.
• Effective page design maps a viewer's route through the information. The designer's job is to lead the viewer's eyes through the important elements or information.  

Font Tips:

• Use no more than two fonts. 
• Make sure they compliment each other.
• Avoid using all upper case unless absolutely necessary.
• Choose the right font (fit the tone of your composition).
• Work with the feel or theme of your composition.
• Don't overuse fancy or complicated fonts. 
• www.typography.com/email/2010-03/index.htm

Visual Hierarchy:

• Will establish focal points based on their importance to the message. 
• It's important to establish an order of elements, and a visual structure.

Ask yourself....

• What do I want my viewer to look at first?

The Grid:

• Way of organizing content on a page, using any combination of margins, guide lines, rows, and columns.  
• Instituted by modernism.
• Can assist audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images.
• Consists of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format.
• A grid is used to help clarify the style of the design.

Cave Paintings | 35,000 years ago

What are cave paintings?
 Beautiful, detailed, and colorful representations found on the inside of cave walls and ceilings.
 

Name several common themes found in cave paintings? 
Large animals such as bison, horses, and deer, tracings of human hands, and abstract patterns.
 

How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)? 
By mixing water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and hematite (a form of iron oxide). Burshes were made by putting together sticks, small stones, leaves, and animal hair.
 

What is the most famous cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom? Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.
Lascaux, France; 1940 by four teenage boys.

 

Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity?

Because the paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide emitted from the tourists; french gov created Lascaux II- man made replica right next to the original.

In Altamira cave, why do most of the paintings have a red hue?

Post an example of cave painting(s) from Altamira cave.

It's caused by the red clay in the soil.

 

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be?

Marceline Sanz De Sautuola and his daughter Maria; they were created nearly 19,000 years ago

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.

 Chauvet, discovered in 1994, by 3 speleologists- Eliette Brunell Deschamps, Christian Hillaire Jean, and Marie Chauvet.
 

What was different about the painting techniques at this site?The walls were scraped clear of debris and the 3D effect was created by etching around the edges. 
 

What is "speleology"?The study or exploration of caves.
 

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings?

1. To tell a story or recount an event that already happened.

2. As an instructional visual aid to help teach about hunting techniques.

3. For magical or religious reasons that if an image of a desired event were painted, it might come true.