Page 19 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 7
— needed only for sheets and pages — and was only large when it was chiseled into buildings and
monuments.

Technological Shift

The Industrial Revolution radically changed the structure of society, socially and economically, by
moving vast numbers of the population from agrarian-based subsistence living to cities where
manufacturing anchored and dominated employment and wealth. Agrarian-based society was tied to
an aristocracy overseeing the land and controlling and directing production through the use of human
labour. In contrast, urban production, though still very much in need of human labour (female and
child labour in particular was in huge demand), was dominated by the mechanized production of goods,
directed and controlled by industrialists instead of the aristocracy. The factories were powered initially
by steam, and eventually by gasoline and electricity. These new manufacturing models were dominated
by an engineering mentality that valued optimization of mechanical processes for high yields and
introduced a compartmentalized approach to production.

Design and Production Separate

The design process was separated from the production-based process for a number of reasons. Primary
was the efficiency-oriented mindset of the manufacturers who were focused on creating products with
low unit costs and high yield outcomes, rather than on pleasing aesthetics or high-quality materials.
Design process is time consuming and was considered unnecessary for each production stage of
manufactured goods.

Manufactured products were intended for the working and middle classes, and high-quality output was
not a goal. These products were never intended to vie for the attention of the upper classes — enticing
them away from the services and bespoke products of the craftsman (a contemporary example is Tip Top
Tailors attracting Savile Row customers). Rather, they supplied common people with goods they had not
been able to afford before. This efficient line of thinking created the still existing equation of minimal
design plus low material integrity equalling low-cost products.

Design, rather than being a part of each step of production (implicit in the craftsman’s approach), was
added for form development and when a product needed more appeal for the masses — usually during
the later stages of production through decorative additions. Design was now directed by the parameters
and constraints of the manufacturing process and its needs.

Advertising Emerges

Despite low product standards, the high quantities and low costs of manufactured goods “stimulated a
mass market and even greater demand” (Meggs & Purvis, 2011, p. 127). The historic role of graphic
design for broadsheets and books expanded at this point to include advertising. Each company and
product needed exposure to sell these manufactured products to the mass market — no earlier method of
promotion could communicate to this number of people.

The design aesthetic of these times was relatively untouched by stylistic cohesion or design philosophy.
Industrialists used a pastiche of historic styles that aspired to make their products look more upscale,