07/12/10 Production for Visual Communications: An Introduction

 "When and how was the first ever Book in Europe printed?"

Gutenberg bible (1445) was the first (real) book to be printed in Europe (more specifically Mainz, Germany), by Johannes Gutenberg. The production of the bible used Gutenberg’s invention of practical movable type. He made metal moulds using dies, into which he could pour hot liquid metal to produce separate letters the same shape as those written by hand. Such letters could be then arranged and rearranged as many times as need be to create different pages from the same letters. Gutenberg then introduced the printing press to press the type against paper. For this he used a hand press. Ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of the handset letters held within a wooden frame, and the frame was then pressed against the paper. This technique enabled sharp impressions on both sides of a sheet of paper and many repetitions. After a page was printed, the type could be reused for printing other pages. His invention of mass printing practices caused the whole industry to change. Previously this European audience had only seen books that were copied out by hand or printed from hand-carved wooden blocks, which greatly affected legibility. Furthermore, wooden blocks were very time consuming and had a short life span, thus causing this to be described as the ‘invention of the millennium.’

"Produce a workflow diagram for your L4 visual work to date based on your RVJs and notes etc."

 A workflow is described as a “Graphical depiction of steps taken, time spent, distance travelled, and other aspects of the way a particular piece of work is done.” They are used to help people understand the process of work and steps needed to be taken within a business. Media used would vary depending on the purpose. One made for a business would need to written on a computer and be legible. One used by myself, to work out what I need to do for a project, is only intended for me to understand, so legible writing for all isn’t so important. The following shows workflow diagram of a recent project that was to produce an eight page zine on “The Underbelly of Birmingham.” It explains visually the work process that took place for this project and the constant interaction between me and my tutor to help push the project further. The books were produced to be sold on at artist fairs, and the project was to teach us about book making.