The History of Graphic Design

Surprisingly enough, Graphic Design started out in the neolithic era. The peoples of that time sought to do the same thing designers do today: fulfill a need and express a message. From that point forward, mankind continued to innovate in terms of visual expression. Civilization as we know it first used visual art to keep track of business and ownership. By Roman times, the arts and typography were used for a wider range of purposes, though they were still at the disposal of only privileged classes. And so they would remain until the invention of movable type made book ownership more accessible to the general public. Eventually artistic expression progressed along with political upheaval, and styles changed and evolved as often as popular thought did.

Personally, I've always had an interest in Illuminated Manuscripts. I'm a big geek for history in any form, and the first time I laid eyes on the elaborately vibrant illustrations in some of these books, I fell in love. The most impressive aspect of these, to me, is the dedication that went into creating each one. Men expended their entire lives doing nothing but copying each page, lovingly, by hand. These days, if someone were to do such a thing, they would be viewed as crazy... But this was a specialized craft that only monks were seemingly qualified to undertake.

The detailing in these pieces is just brilliant. They had such limited resources with which to create those books!