_________ graphics: the industrial revolution: a history

The Industrial Revolution was a time of change. Technology was advancing rapidly and the world was changing. A consumer society was created out of the huge advancements in technology that made producing things easier and faster. Factories were constructed as the world moved away from the home businesses. With the new factories and faster produced products advertising was a must in this newly created society.

The mechanical side of printing was improved which allowed for speedier printing, line-casting machines, and photo engraving. The line-casting machine allowed for more detail in typesetting. Using points for the measurement of type was also set during the Industrial Revolution.

The creation of new fonts was also sped up because of the advances in technology. More typefaces were developed and adding to existing fonts was easier. Boldface was introduced during this period. With the technology and ease that came with it the experimentation with typefaces began. With the continued experimentation serifs were edited out and disappeared in the typefaces of the time.

William Caslon created the first sans serif font: English Egyptian. The trend of sans serif fonts was called grotesque, a name still used today, because it was so unusual compared to the other fonts of previous eras.

With the Industrial Revolution also came advances in lithography. Created by Alois Senefelder lithography saw refinements that sped up the print speeds dramatically. With the new commercial society the need for posters to advertise things became widespread. Along with the advancements in poster design and creation came an advancement that made correcting mistakes a lot easier. The monotype character caster made it possible to make corrections at the character level rather than having to re-do the whole page.