Download - Dear September 2014 - Magenta Version
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4
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Monologue
This month has been a very long and quite depressing month for us.
Perhaps you already know why so we’d just skip it for the sake of the
delayed contents. Here at Dear we work independently, and sometimes
being too independent makes us lose track of stuffs, especially when new
opportunity and projects came. That’s the stuff that happened to us. Sorry.
For the next few publications we’re going to focus on another series.
This time about production, especially print production, and to start
we’re discussing the oldest technology that were invented as a media of
communication at that time. As the publication goes on, we’re going to
discuss stuffs that are more modern and developed. But as always, and
again for the sake of enjoyment we’re still keeping things simple.
On this moment we reflect on ourselves and the past 8 months. We see
ourselves grow, and we are thankful, especially to those who dropped and
say hi, we are grateful for the appreciation. We are still learning, still trying
stuffs, but to see someone that supports us is one of a kind joy. So thank
you, for you readers, for supporters of our work, we are totally happy of our
work. and so, please enjoy our production.
Contents
The Print Age 4Early Large Scale Productions 6Demand and Supply 8Article References: 12Image References: 12
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In a world where our eyes serve as the window of our soul, we
see and discover new things in life. Visual communication today
is not the same as 1 millennia before.
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G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
This discussion focuses on the
logic and progression of several
techniques, not an in depth
procedure of the technique itself.
So for those expecting a detailed
information about the production,
we encourage you to have your own
research as describing the detailed
process will take too much space.
The Print Age
Though our publication deck
sounded heavy the discussion is still
light, so hold the urge to close the
page. Design or art or simply letters
are produced everyday in a pace
we can’t possibly imagine unless
we see it for ourselves. Countless
of production, especially prints, are
made, and perhaps most of them
are ignored as people say today is
the age of digital communications.
The use of digital devices as a
means of communication and
information source starts to kill
print, slowly.
Some may argue the misuse and
excessive use of paper is the reason
that digital media are developed.
First it was a development that
acts as an alternate solution for
the global warming issue around
4-6 years ago, but as we see now
that digital media has slowly shift
and gains an important position
in our everyday life, making prints
somewhat less fancy than before.
As time progresses, human mind and technology also
develops in a never ending cycle of demand and
supply. Human thrives for more, while technology always
evolves to quench a never ending thirst of the mind. In just
one day our eyes could not escape visual communication.
May it be printed or digital. Visual communication is
everywhere. Visual communication will develop and evolve
in various form and means as long as the human race has
the infinite thirst of knowledge and the thrive for perfection.
G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
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Cylinder Seal
But back before the term RGB is in
a trend, people literally work hard
for graphic production.
Take an early example of
hieroglyphs and cave markings left
by the early civilizations. The marks
were sign of communication and
records which we can understand
now, but these kind of graphic
production are somewhat one of
a kind and is basically a drawing
gesture, something fundamental
that some people still do today.
Another record of graphic
production would be stamps, which
are used as seals.
One tool that is quite unique is the
cylinder seal. Used to produce a
seal that uses less force than a flat
square stamp, the cylinder seal can
also be used to create a seamless
patterned seal. The tool is simply
a cylinder, made with metal or any
hard other objects that had the
desired graphic as a embossed
relief. The cylinder is then pressed
and rolled on a clay or any material
to stamp on. The material then
will have the desired graphic in a
debossed manner.
The logic of stamp is later on
developed in wood cutting, in which
the relief this time is applied with
ink and then used on the desired
material. In this manner the image
produced may be a soft surface,
as previously stamps are used with
force to create a deboss effect, ink
stamps may be used to produce
image without harming the material.
Ukiyoe, or woodblock printing is a
popular art in Japan, as woodblock
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G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
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Great Wave off Kanagawa by a famous
Woodcut print artist, Hokusai.
Opposite Page: Wood Etching
printing needs a artist craftsmanship
to etch or cut the wood. The artist
then apply colored ink on the wood
to create a colorful image. Each
colored are normally applied on one
wood, so to produce a 4 colored
image, normally it would need 4
woods, with one color on each
wood. This craft needs precision to
perform well.
Though normally one color per
wood is used, some artist manage
to create several techniques
and also tricks to overcome the
limitation. One coloring technique
that is often used are gradients, as
it can create depth on the image
and also save cost and space in the
production. Another technique is
by dividing the colors on separate
distant area so that it is possible
to use two colored inks on one
application. The logic behind
woodblock is quite similar with the
basic logic of screen printing. The
context of wood block usage are
often images, as it is quite hard to
etch a letter on wood, especially if
the letter is used as a passage. This
shows the limitations of woodblock
printing, as the ones that can craft
well are usually talented or skilled
person, this makes the production
of woodblock limited and time
consuming. Another limitations
where the size. In which to create
the print a wood is needed, so to
produce a huge image it would
require a huge wood as the base
for cutting. Even if the wood
is not gigantic, it is still hard to
bring 4 woods from one place to
another place to create a 4 colored
image. The media of wood is not
flexible at that time and has many
limitations although the results were
captivating.
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G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
Early Large Scale Productions
Around 900 AD, the demand for
books has started to grow. At that
time to produce books, scribes or
scholars are employed to write a
book, making a book production
very time consuming and also
energy consuming. Production
using woodblock print is also out of
the question since creating a master
for printing, especially text are very
delicate, and time consuming. It
was time for a new technique or
production to emerge.
Recored first at China, made by
Bi Sheng, he used a sticky clay in
small pieces and then cut them
as alphabet characters, Chinese
characters to be exact, which were
as thin as coins, and then heated so
that the clay becomes hard. These
characters where then arranged on
a mixture of pine, resin, wax and
paper ash. The characters were
arranged with a help of an iron
frame to help the adjustments,
and to hold them. After adjusted
the characters were pressed with a
wooden board to help it become
flat.
Later on the flattened characters
were used with a stamp like
mechanism to create prints,
especially text prints. This method
answers the first demands of book
printing, though it still has flaws it
started a path of moveable type in
China. One refinement made after
Bi Sheng’s invention was by Wong
Zhen that made the characters
by wood to create a sturdier and
stronger character that won’t break
easily. Another refinement was by
Hua Sui that made the characters by
bronze, providing an even sturdier
character then Wong Zhen’s.
Early tools for printing in China after various developments.
G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
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Although the term moveable type
wasn’t use to describe Bi Sheng’s
invention, the definition of the
term moveable type fits on how
the method of Bi Sheng works.
Moveable type was described as
a printing technique that uses the
arrangements or adjustments of
the smallest type of the print to
compose a document, which is
type.
The term moveable type is used
to describe the invention of
Gutenberg. Johannes Gutenberg,
or Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden
zum Gutenberg, was a goldsmith,
blacksmith, printer and also
publisher. A pioneer of moveable
type printing.
Gutenberg was credited for the
innovation of moveable type in
Europe, also the invention of
matrix and also hand held mold for
supporting the printing process,
though some argue that Gutenberg
does really uses them.
Other than tools and also methods,
From top to bottom: Gutenberg, Matrix, and hand mould.
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G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
Another printing technique that
we would like to point out is the
Lithography, which means to write
on stone. Lithography uses the
principle that oil and water does
not mix. The technique was first
used by Alois Senefelder, a German
actor and playwright. Alois first used
lithography to produce play scripts.
The technique goes as the mirrored
image is sculpted on the base,
which is limestone at that time.
The image to be produced or the
positive image is made higher than
the negative image. The positive
image is then applied with a water
repelling substance while the
negative image retains water. The
limestone is than given ink, and the
positive image automatically repels
the water and captures all the ink
which is later pressed on paper to
create a print.
Creating lithography with limestone
also enables to artist to create
texture and also renders an image
more easily than woodblock.
Although the use of limestone
Gutenberg is also credited as the
first that uses oil based inks for
printing.
One of Gutenberg’s most famous
work is the Gutenberg Bible, which
also helped the Bible to spread
faster than before. With printing
the Bible has also become easier
to read. Gutenberg also still
incorporates
scripts,
ornaments in
his Bible so that
the Bible still
has an aesthetic
beauty, though
not all Bibles
has the artistic
decoration.
The Gutenberg
Bible also forms
a standard
for the later
Bibles that were
produced, such
as 36- Line Bible, Mentelin’s Latin
Bible and Eggestein Bibles in which
they follow Gutenberg’s format.
Gutenberg’s Bible details.
G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
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in printing is not really used in
printing anymore, the principles of
lithography itself is than used on
various printing and also developed
for other printing techniques.
Demand and Supply
As time progresses, people will
need more things and surely
new methods and techniques of
production will be available. As
artists or designers we may not
need to be fully master production
techniques, but it is important to
understand and to appreciate the
production aspect of design and
art. We can learn and enjoy various
medias, especially print medias
because people of the past develop
and refine various methods to
remove boundaries on production.
When we understand the hardships
behind the production process,
perhaps we can learn more and do
more by emphasizing the unique
points of the production. If we
are blind of all the techniques,
A lime stone for lithography
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G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N
It enables us to work faster, but
when we are blind, than technology
wouldn’t be a supportive aspect in
our work flow, perhaps it may even
make things complicated if we knew
nothing at all. Keep learning folks,
don’t stop after you finish creating
your design. Learn to maximize your
design with various productions
available at your disposal, exploit
the techniques, as a designer or
artist, it never hurts to have more
arsenal for creating your work isn’t
it? Push yourselves, learn more, try
more stuffs.
Article References:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodblock_printinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylinder_sealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_typehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Shenghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_(printing)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_mouldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Koenighttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography
Image References:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Johannes_Gutenberg.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Gutenberg_Bible_4.jpghttp://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2011/05/IMG_06951.jpghttp://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/section_15/dde15d9dccb73a8f916c0e3409a1761f.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G4XBuPv9lSc/TwbGVzMxdkI/AAAAAAAAA_g/fK4Hfc0sDBg/s1600/5%2B%2BArsenal%2B-%2Bcap%2BA2%2B-%2B1%2Baa.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/BulletMolds.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Lithography_stone_Princeton_motif.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Preparing_a_Woodcut_Design.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpghttp://www.itemview.com/item_pages/images/full_size/36103.jpghttp://www.absolutechinatours.com/UploadFiles/ImageBase/Bisheng-printing-chinese-inventions-5.jpg
than other people that are open
and learn more surely will be able
to produce more. Mix media in
production is also possible when we
understand various techniques. The
possibility is limitless if we truly want
to push ourselves into creating more
with different, various and multiple
techniques. We believe great works
are produced with careful though
throughout all aspects, not just in
computer using a software only.
In the end technology is meant
to help us to be more productive.
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Next Discussion:
And we keep on going. After discussing a little about early graphic
production, we’re gonna talk about the next technologies, which we can’t
really talk much yet since there are still final things to be decided. The
content is on it’s way, so perhaps the next one will be far faster from this
one. Really.