Falling of the Scribes; Revolutions in Graphic Design - then and now

Cycles...

No, not those cycles. I meant event cycles.

Cycles are important; both in sales, and in history. Nowhere, in Graphic Design, can I see that more than in the comparative trends between the invention and inception of printing, and the Graphic Design trade, as a whole, back in Europe's Renaissance, and the growing domination of the World Wide Web and then new wave of conversion to the electronic medium.

 

Chapter six of Megg's History of Graphic Design – The German Illustrated Book (p. 80-97) - opens with the account of the push back that the new printing press got as it entered into the public eye; offering its books, readers, and cards. In Genoa, scribes sought to have printing band. Parisian Illuminators tried to sue printers for damages; claiming unfair competition. These groups worked to convince the public of print's inferior standard to calligraphy. An appeal, in 1492, to the soon to be Pope Julies II, got him to even order books for the Vatican library be transcribed from their printed form, just to be included.

Wait; maybe we should back track a little, here? After all, many folks, today, may not understand all the fuss over printing. And, in some ways, that is part of today's little review.

Portrait of Jean Miélot by Jean Le Tavernier 

 

You see, until Gutenberg's printing press – and all the subsequent presses to follow - books were transcribed and illuminated by hand; using skilled, sometimes monastic, labor. Regardless if by clergy, or skilled artisan, the creation of books was, then, a time consuming, laborious task. It was in the hands of the very skilled elite. They, pretty much, controlled the flow of knowledge.

And if there's anything Schoolhouse Rocky has taught us, during every Saturday morning sugar infused cartoon fest, it's that knowledge is power.

In all the cases of resistance to printing, you saw a small, specifically skilled set of folks poised to lose, not only their livelihood, but a hold on power and influence in their society. And, as the new technology developed, this would later expanded to the illustrator; who, until the early 1500's, enjoyed the security of the press not being able to add pictures to text. (Until then, books were printed, and illustration, and other flourishes, were then added in by hand, directly to the page.)

Despite all the arguments, we pretty much know how the whole printing thing turned out. Today we enjoy books, magazines, comics, and a vast array of printed advertising. But, in the past few years, there's been a push from a new technology. A new medium of Graphic Design has entered the foray, and in a huge way; reaching not only into how and when we get our books, but also our news, advertising, and even our mail.

The Internet.

 

In the past decade, the World Wide Web, first thought of as the “Information Super Highway”, has grown from chat rooms and picture sharing into the dominate force of the dissemination of news, information, and entertainment. And this has had much the same impact, today, as those poor scribes felt some 600 years ago.

In June of 2011, the Newspaper Association of America reported the slide of print sales by nearly 10%; dropping it to near 1983 levels, as the trend of online news took to full swing. And,with that drop, too revenues associated with print advertisers. The then chairman of the NAA, John Strum, however, did report that online revenues made up for some 15% of newspaper ad sales.

Currently, most major publishers of periodicals now offer both a hard copy – via news stand or subscription, and an electronic version that can be viewed on any home PC, tablet, or smart phone. And, analysts predict, is where the largest bulk of business is now pushing.

Add to that the surge in the new online “blog”, and the availability of anyone, and everyone, to suddenly find and share information, and you might be able to see the parallel between the scribe of then, and the newspaper men of today.



Sure, but let's see him dog ear those pages.

But, what about those books, you might be asking. Well, there's another interesting story. Foner Books reports that government figures tracking the overall sales of books has fallen, gradually, and is currently down 23% since 2004. On the flip side, the Guardian reported, in May of this year, that e-book sales were up nearly 366% in the UK; offsetting the decline in printing. In August they reported that, for every 100 printed books Amazon sold, it sold 114 e-books for its popular Kindle e-reader. In the Unites States, Mashable Media (www.mashable.com) reported, also in June, that e-book sales overtook hard cover sales for the first time, ever; up over 28% from this time last year. (Audio books saw an even greater rise, they reported; climbing nearly 36%.)

These trends, of course, aren't without their nay-sayers. Corespondents for old news agencies are quick to point out that most of the online reporting is just a regurge of their work. Most avid print companies point out the limits of e-readers and e-books over traditional print media.

 



This was what my grandpa thought of as a "reader".

Myself, like many American, as well, I'd venture, readers world wide, still prefer books and comics on paper, under a cover, free from the limits of batteries, to be read anywhere, any time we want. For me, as many others, print media is just more comfortable; whether tactilely, or esthetically. Trends may come, and go, but we'll always prefer our books and magazines.

The trend, though, is here to stay. And it's far reaching. My degree course is now called “Graphic Interface Design” (GID), for example. Courses still cover print, but mostly focus now on the new media of internet design; including on online publishing, web design, and marketing. The tools of the trade have changed; from cut ups, cameras, and paste boards to Adobe creative software like In Design, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver.

Typography has now a catalog of thousands of type faces to choose from. And, thanks to the nearly unlimited canvas of the web browser, layout and design has expanded in never before thought of ways. All this new and easily available technology and tools at the ready, have – much like the scribes of yore – taken the power out of the old print giants, and in control of the young, fresh, upstarts.

As in the days of the scribe and hand illuminator, the power has started shifting, driven by new technology, in the field of Graphic Design. Old, established print houses are clutching at their power and prestige slipping away, taken by the new online media of the Internet. It will be interesting to see how the impact of this, and of the newly empowered independent publishing front – also Internet powered, will affect the markets and media, as well as the spread of ideas and knowledge.