Computers haven’t always been around for the graphic designer to use.
It’s been about 3 decades since the desktop computer revolutionised how a graphic designer works.
Before the digital revolution, typesetting and image manipulation were done in a much more manual way. A film was recently produced entitled Graphic Means which explores the way in which graphic design was produced in the decades before the advent of the desktop computer.
The tools of the trade were very different!
Letraset
Letraset produced a range of dry rub-down instant lettering which you could use to create layouts. It came in a range of typefaces.
It is believed Letraset are responsible for the popular use of Lorum Ipsum text, having used it heavily in their advertising campaigns (what is lorum ipsum).
The Dark Room
Modern digital camera owners will have no idea what a dark room is! It was where you would develop film from cameras, such as 35mm or medium format film.
Photo manipulation techniques were developed in the dark room which today can be done with the click of a mouse by a graphic designer in software like Photoshop.
Techniques such as dodging and burning were used as were vibrating the film while developing or scratching and manipulating the negatives. Airbrushing, even literally painting on the negatives was often part of the process.
The Drawing Board
Today a graphic designer uses their desktop/laptop to put together a page layout. They use modern software (such as those developed by Adobe) as a digital sketchbook to experiment with layout ideas before preparing a final design for print.
But before they had the desktop, drawing boards were more commonplace as a means of experimenting with and assembling a piece of design.
The fundamentals of good design remain, regardless of how you execute the work. And good design matters. If you would to know more about working with Red Sentence on your next graphic design project, get in touch! hello@redsentence.co.uk / 01483 904950
