Graphic Design Before Graphic Designers: The Printer as Designer and Craftsman: 1700 - 1914

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Graphic design existed long before there were any graphic designers and this lavish volume is a vibrant tribute to beautifully crafted printed ephemera from the past. The art of combining text and pictures has been at the heart of the printer's craft for hundreds of years. While early pioneers focused on books, others began using their presses for more humble uses, from handbills to games, advertisements and packaging. This so-called 'jobbing' work grew rapidly in importance, yet has been overlooked in histories of both print and graphic design.

Graphic Design before Graphic Designers is a visual journey through the pre-history of graphic design, charting the printer's progress from tradesman to the hallowed status of artistic printer.

Showcasing work from a host of anonymous talents as well as seminal, pioneering typographers, artists and printers such as Bodoni, William Morris and Oscar Harpel, it reveals how those working on both sides of the Atlantic responded to everyday communication issues with original solutions and breathtaking flair and skill.

The extraordinarily diverse result is a cultural feast of the jobbing printer's contribution to visual culture and heritage.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In the early world of printed books, the printer was also often the designer. The typefaces and the layout of these works were all done by the same hand, if not the same shop. However, as business interests grew and commercial use of the printed word developed, the "jobbing printer" found himself faced with new challenges and new opportunities to develop his skills. Jury (What Is Typography?) takes readers on a journey through the history of these changes, touching on the ephemera and design of shipping posters, admission tickets, passports, newspapers, advertisements, and typography, as well as design itself. With great imagination, these generally unknown figures produced a wealth of printed pages that became a part of everyday life in the United States and abroad, and the elegant examples included here are impressive, considering the nature and purpose of the documents and the short life of use for which they were produced. With a clear and precise text, Jury conveys his passion for typography and graphic design as well as his scholarly expertise in the field. -VERDICT An important addition in the history of books, printing, and graphic design, this title is recommended for serious students of any of these subjects. The selected bibliography is a useful tool for further study in the field.-Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This very important work presents, in a single volume, an overview of the technological and aesthetic developments in the printed "ephemera"--nonbook work--of Europe and the US. Jury (Colchester Institute, UK) does an admirable job, with great economy, of showing how graphic design grew out of the printing rooms of the 19th century and eventually became a separate discipline. The book is well researched and well written, with ample illustrations (which are very rarely found in a state of good preservation). As most histories of graphic design begin with the last decade of the 19th century, this work can be considered a "prequel" to the familiar story. Used in conjunction with standard histories such as Meggs' History of Graphic Design, by P. B. Meggs and A. W. Purvis (5th ed., 2012), S. Eskilson's Graphic Design (2nd ed., CH, Aug'12, 49-6674), or P. Cramsie's The Story of Graphic Design (CH, Oct'10, 48-0660), this book can extend one's expertise in the subject of commercial printing style back to the mid 18th century. Beautifully produced, colorfully illustrated, logically organized, and authoritative in every respect, this will become a standard account in the graphic design history canon. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. S. Skaggs University of Louisville