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Technological Advancements and Influences in 20th Century Graphic Design

Technology impacted not only the way work was produced, but how it was designed as well. In 1907, Peter Behrens became the first corporate designer for AEG. His designs were made for a mechanical age; the stark, geometric solutions were easily reproduced through mechanical means and easily translated into other forms. Behrens’ use of objective forms gave his work a machine-made look and eliminated all traces of the human touch. These forms were said to be objective, universal, and modern, an embodiment of everything mechanical and technological.

The Letterpress

• -The advancement of the letterpress in the 19th century greatly increased possibilities of mass production of graphic design. It made design accessible to the public in not only mass amounts, but at a quicker rate as well. 
  
• -Mass production aided in the advancement of culture and raised society's awareness.
  
• -Helped inform the public of international affairs when they were previously only exposed to their local news.
  
• -"These pages are vital to the thought and action of the nation. The city without newspapers is a city paralyzed, hesitating in its trade, given over to rumor and uncertain in its social life. The nation without newspapers and magazines would be a nation in the dark"
  

The Linotype

• -Developed by Ottmar Mergenthaler. A brilliant machine of it’s time which could cast an entire line or slug of type from brass matrices brought into place by a keyboard.

The Monotype

• -Created by Tolbert Lanston. As opposed to the linotype machine which would cast a single line or slug of type, the monotype can cast separate pieces of type. 
• The Monotype was most popularly used for quality printing and bookwork.

The Ludlow System

• -Created by W.I. Ludlow and A Reade in 1906. A method of casting larger slugs of type. Each line is cast from brass matrices set by hand and locked in a Ludlow composing stick. Especially useful for setting headlines and adverting displays. 
  

The Punch-Cutting Machine

• -Developed by Linn Boyd Benton. Inspired by the old pantograph machines which was able to mechanically cut an entire range of type sizes from a single set of patterns.
  

Negative Outcomes Due to Technology

The rapid improvements in the typefounding industry raised some major problems.

• -Antiquation of type sizes. Originally there stood about twenty different names for vary type sizes. In 1886 this problem was righted by the American Point system which mandated that a point was fixed at .01387 inch and a pica was 12 points. This meant that roughly about seventy two points, or six picas is equal to one inch.
  
• -Economically disastrous. With the expansion of machine set type, the demand for original foundry type diminished. The American Typefounders Company on top of the virtual monopoly printed their first specimen book in 1912 which weighed in as a ten pound book, cataloging over thirteen hundred pages!
  

Results on Graphic Design Due to Technological Advancements

Magazines
The graphic arts industry underwent a tremendous production surge after the invention of machines which improved and perfected the process of type setting and ultimately created a superior form of printing. Prior to these modern printing methods, typography most typically done by wood engravings, was seen as uninteresting and quickly replaced in bulk-printed magazines such as Sears and Montgomary Ward. Technological advancements also allowed for advertisements and magazine covers to order brighter and more colorful pictures in large amounts.

Gasoline Engine
The invention of the gasoline engine drastically changed the course of the graphic arts and advertising. American life was radically changing with the invention of the automobile. the production of cars rose from 5,000 in 1900 to 600,000 in 1914 and production lines made it easier for people to own autos which resulted in a greater potential for advertising.

Outdoor Advertising
In 1912 advertising expanded into the countryside. Intended to catch the eye of motorists, a standard size of bulletin space was adopted at eight by nineteen feet. These bulletin boards could be filled with posters assembled from twenty four lithographed sheets. The sheets could be printed economically in large quantities and posted from coast to coast.
[edit] Other Technological Developments

Transportation

• - The automobile was invented and marketed by Henry Ford in 1907. Ford used a factory assembly line to mass-produce automobiles for the public.
  
• - Subways and trollies became popular methods of mass-transportation.
  
• - The first airplane was successfully tested by the Wright Brothers.
  
• Science
  
• - Albert Einstein released his theory of relativity, E=mc(2). Theories of quantum mechanics were also developed.
  
• - Sigmund Freud's writings on the human psyche changed the way people viewed themselves and others in countless ways.
  
• - New technologies in medical research lead to the discovery of antibiotics like penicillin and insulin.
  
• - Discoveries about our planet were constantly being made, such as the discovery of new species, and the discovery of Pluto.
  

Entertainment

• - The Industrial Revolution created more luxury time, which gave way to a growing theater industry.
  
• - The first silent movie was made; later color and sound were incorporated into the picture.
  
• - The television was invented.
  
• - Records and phonographs were essential to a growing music industry.
  
• - Color photography was invented in 1907.