Fournier, Pierre Simon

Everybody sees examples of typography every day. on the streets, in the shops, while going on any transport and even in our fridge! Needless to say, that we are overwhelmed by the amount of visual stuff around us! most of the people don't even have a clue what a difficult subject typography is. But this person definitely did…

Pierre Simon Fournier was a French graphic designer. He was born on the 15 of September in 1712. He is most known for the typographic work that he has done through his entire life.

During his youth he has been practicing different graphic aspects: he has been painting in watercolors, wood engraving, which later has led him to letter engraving an letter casting. Through his whole life he has designed more than 150 typefaces. Pierre Simon Fournier is also known for standardizing the size of the typefaces used in France.

Most of the Fonts Simon Fournier has designed were Serif types. There always was a big contrast between the areas where the letters were thin and thick, which could lead to bad clarity of the text. Nevertheless, the Simon Fournier’s fonts are still used or are used as a base to create new fonts “in the style of Simon Fournier”. Joanna, Meridienm, Fairfield… these are only few that are used nowadays…
Pierre Simon Fournier has been a hard-working person and not only he designed the types, but also he had several publications about it.” Modèles des Caractères”, "Manuel Typographique", "Essai d’un nouveau caractère de fonte pour l’impression de la musique".

Another thing that Pierre Simon Fournier has been working of is musical notes. He has make made the shapes smoother, the notes easier to read. He died at the age of 56, on the 8 of October in 1786.

Bibliography:
1)Pierre Simon Fournier - Linotype Font Designer
http://www.linotype.com/711/pierresimonfournier.html
2)Identifont - Pierre Simon Fournier
http://www.identifont.com/show?17K
3)Pierre Simon Fournier - LoveToKnow 1911
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Pierre_Simon_Fournier
4)Laurent Pflughaupt “Letter by Letter”, Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

Daria Sidorenko

Bonnard, Pierre

Francisco Belo dos Santos

Didot, François-Ambroise

Son of François Didot, François-Ambroise inherited his father's skills and kept the legacy of printing, publishing, and typefounding began by his father. He improved the standard of type design allowing a greater contrast between thick and thin letter, to him we owe the measurement in points of the fonts (type size), and the standard of the 72 french inch measure.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/162510/Francois-Ambroise-Didot < 28 oct 09 10.30am

Maria Carrasco

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the term used to describe an art movement which originated in France and Italy. Its influence was largely derived from ancient Greece and Rome. The influence of Neoclassicim however did not remain solely in France and Italy, it spread as far as St Petersburg, Sydney, Philadelphia and Edinburgh. The audience was not limited just to high society, managed to span across all classes.

The results of the Herculaneum and Pompeii excavations during the second half of the 18th century provided a mass of influential publications and artefacts about Classic art and society which played an important role in the definition of the style. The roots of Neo Classicism however are not just found in antiques. Some smaller contributions from the East, Medieval times and the Egyptians have also been a factor.

Artists of the Neo Classical age often made use of "Classical' imagery such as Cherubs and Cupids. Such examples of this method can be found in a painting of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin West, titled "Drawing Electricity from the Sky". It shows Franklin observing a jolt of electricity passing from his kite string to his clenched fist. In the background he is being helped by Cupids. A prime example of mixing the old with the new.

"Like the two faced Classical god Janus, Neo Classicism looks both behind and ahead'.
David Irwin, Neo Classicism, Phaidon

Benjamin West was one of many 'Grand Tour' artists. Grand Tour being the term used to describe a year long Italian education, spent studying various art forms. He produced many religious paintings and often had as many as five assistants helping him with large works. Some paintings where produced for Windsor Castle at the request of George III, but he also catered for hospital chapels, cathedrals and churches with alter pieces. His work painting church windows, which where not created in a similar fashion to stain glass windows in many smaller parts, but rather painted on to the surface restricted the levels of light in the churches, making other windows glow in an almost divine manor. However this method did not meet the approval of many other artists who believed it to be criminal.

One such Benjamin West painting titled "British Manufactory: A Sketch" features a copy of an antique vase designed by Josiah Wedgwood, who at the time was also designing the ceiling of the lodge at Windsor. Wedgwood owned his own showroom in St James Sq, where he exhibited some of the most expensive British pottery available in London. He succesfully managed to create a market for luxury Neo Classical vases in a way never done before, through the use of a showroom and a printed catalogue, which offered a wide range of varied designs.

Neo Classicism was one of the few styles from Europe which found its way into Japan around 1868. The design of the Yokohama Shohkn Bank, which is now a Museum, was specifically made Neo Classical as the bank at the time was engaged in international trade and thus decided a foreign style of architecture was the most appropriate.

The White House, originally commissioned as a place of residence for Jefferson, who at the time was the Secretary of State, was designed by Hoban after winning a competition to design the residence. Jefferson expressed concern, believing the residence should not be too extravagant due to the current economy of the newly developing United States. What originated as a humble dwelling soon became much more and is a prime example of Neo Classical architecture in the US.

Jay Keefe

Bibliography

Books
David Irwin (1997), Neoclassicism, London, Phaidon Press Limited

Images
Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricyt from the Sky (P174)
David Irwin (1997), Neoclassicism, London, Phaidon Press Limited

Britain and France united by Mercury (P222)
David Irwin (1997), Neoclassicism, London, Phaidon Press Limited

Yokohama Shohkin Bank (P394)
David Irwin (1997), Neoclassicism, London, Phaidon Press Limited

The White House (P126)
David Irwin (1997), Neoclassicism, London, Phaidon Press Limited

Grasset, Eugène

Eugène Grasset (1845-1917) was a Swiss-born, Art Nouveau Designer. Son of a sculptor, he was raised in an artistic environment. Some of the influences in his work are inspired by a visit to Egypt, a trip that took place shortly after he finished his education. In 1871 he moved to Paris to pursue an interest in designing ceramics, jewellery and furniture fabrics. Using very unique materials such as gold and ivory, his work was considered a cornerstone of Art Nouveau motifs and patterns. Later, in 1877 Grasset focused on Graphic Design by producing postcards and stamps for France and Switzerland. Eventually poster art was to become his main practice.

Several American companies contacted Grasset due to the growing popularity of his poster designs, this lead to his first American commission in the 1880’s. Grasset experienced more success after designing the Harper’s Magazine Christmas issue of 1892.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Grasset taught design at École Guérin, École d’Art graphique and at Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

‘Grasset’ typeface was introduced at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, an italic design Eugène Grasset created and used in some of his posters.

Image link:
http://www.parisposters.com/image.ph p?q=100&l=430&image=FB/FB_247

Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mandè

Louis Jacques Mandè Daguerre, partnered with Joseph Nipece to improve the development of photography. He named the development process after his own name ‘daguerreotype’. This process allowed development time to change from eight hours to thirty minutes. It is this process that has had an influential part of graphic design, as without this, the development of photography would be a lot slower and we may have not been able to manipulate and use imagery with the freedom we have today. This could have had a tragic effect on graphic design, because as graphic designers we rely on visual aids such as photos/images to communicate with the world and get our point across.

Bibliography:
Information and Photo http://inventors.about.com/od/dstartinventions/a/Daguerreotype.htm (Accessed on the 27th October 2009, 09:28)
Gemma Morley