We’re finishing our Design History series with a more contemporary matter: the computer and the graphic design. We’re going to see some great names that we already know, like Apple, Adobe and Microsoft, and how they contributed for the graphic design. Good reading.
Computer Graphic without a Screen
Computer graphics exists even before the screens we know. In one of the firsts graphic images, created by Ben Laposky in 1950, an oscilloscope was used. Later, in 1960, William Fetter uses the term “computer graphic” as he was a graphic designer for Boeing Aircraft Co.
The Screen
The discovery of cathode rays, by Julius Plucker in 1959, made possible the creation of the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), which allowed data visualization. The firsts screens was only one color and very crude. Later they were improved, working with the three colors RGB.
CRT
GUI – Graphical User Interface
With the GUI (pronounced “gooey”), instead of using only commands on a keyboard, the user had an interface with pictures, buttons and pointers (in 1963, Douglas Englebart created the first mouse). It made a lot easier to use a computer and explore its possibilities. In 1981, Xerox launched the Star Workstation, the first station using GUI.
Xerox’s Star workstation
Digital Type is Born
Dr. Ing. Rudolf Hell created in 1965 the first device to produce characters on a CRT with digital control: the Digiset typesetting system. Other systems appeared and evolved near the 1970’s. In 1968, the Hell Design Studio designed the first digital type, called Digi Grotesk.
Bit Map Fonts
Also called “raster fonts” or “pixel fonts”, these fonts are made from squared dots, pixels, creating the shape of each letter. They look pretty crude, due to its squared shapes. Today they are used for Flash and web design.
Post Script Language Type 1 – Adobe, 1985
There were different formats for digital fonts, till Adobe created the PostScript Type 1 for the Apple Laserwriter printer in 1985, about six years earlier than TrueType format. The format permits scaling to any size, but it’s limited to 256 characters for font. For more complex titling, accents and ligatures, a “pro” version is needed.
True Type – Apple & Microsoft, late 1980’s
TrueType (first called Royal) came as PostScript rival, using a different curve system (quadratic curves). They look sharper on screen and need only one file, different than PostScripts, which needs a bitmap suitcase and a font file. Each one had its advantages and disadvantages.
OpenType – Adobe & Microsoft, 1990’s
Both technologies from the PostScript and TrueType were combined in OpenType. OpenType’s Unicode encoding allows 65,000 characters in a single font and it’s also cross-plataform, working on Macs and PC’s. So many characters can make complex fonts with special characters, accentuation and ligatures or even Greek and Cyrillic characters.
Microsoft ClearType and CoolType, 2000
These are sub-pixel font rendering technologies, created to provide sharper visualization of fonts on screen, but they only works on LCD displays. ClearType was created by Microsoft, while CoolType was created by Adobe and were added to E-book Reader and Acrobat Reader.
Digital Type Pioneers
Bitstream, 1981
Bitstream was the first digital type foundry, founded by Mike Parker, a traditional type designer from Linotype. His partner Matthew Carter was also a traditional type designer, that used his knowledge adapted to the new demands of digital type. Bitstream created some own fonts and also remade classic fonts in digital medium.
Macintosh”City” Type, 1983
Susan Kare designed for Apple a series of city-named fonts for screen. The main font of the series was Chicago, used for the operating system. The other ones were derivated from known fonts like New York fromm Times New Roman, Geneva from Helvetica and others.
Adobe Type Originals
Adobe started digitalizing traditional fonts, but about 1989 they started the Adobe Originals, where they produced a new series of type families. The known Adobe Garamond was one of the firsts fonts designed by Roger Slimbach for Adobe Originals. Some fonts that succeeded that were Traja, Lithos and Caslon.
The impact of the computer and digital type for graphic designers
We know that the history of graphic design comes much earlier than the computers. Then how could the computer turn everything so different? It’s hard to imagine myself doing everything without a computer, while the early designers needed to do everything by their own. Today it’s so simple to buy a beautiful font family, we don’t need to engrave letters in metal. How much is that good? I leave this question for you, to balance the good and bad aspects of “digital revolution”.
References and further reading:
I can still remember the old pc style we’re making fun of in our PC laboratory way back in high school. I like the Bit Map Fonts. You can easily relate the font style with PCs.
@Anne I can still remember my old pc at school they were “Televideo” brand lol take a look
http://www.decodesystems.com/lsi-adm5.jpg
Thank you very much for that magnificent article
Your References are all linked to the last TrueType article. Are there other references? I would like to use you as a source for a presentation.
Penny
It is hard to imagine how I would get anything done without my computer! I was born in 85 and I remember my father giving me an Amstrad, on this I would play around with paint (Obviously where I gained my photoshop expertise!) and play games like test drive and the prince of persia, from that I have had several lap tops a desktop and for the past 3 years an Apple Mac Book pro. For the past 10 years I have been using the internet and at 14 was buying and selling on ebay, and shopping online. Now I work all day building websites and when I get home I might have a quick browse on amazon. I am glad there is a great choice of fonts now, if only they were all cross browser compatible so we could use them in websites!
Brilliant! I loved the old green/amber screen monitors!
wow ncie to see all those old boys
I gained my photoshop expertise!) and play games like test drive and the prince of persia, from that I have had several lap tops a desktop and for the past 3 years an Apple Mac Book pro.
Wow, it make us remember the old time when it was the new thing for everyone.
@milton sure those were the times when you were jaw dropped with when you firts saw color in laser prints wow
Wow, this is a great article. I remember those old-style computers well…
nice collection , , i anm rubbish at logos , i use odesk for that
I love the design of these old computers. It would be nice to have an extremely up to date computer inside one of those old cases with a mono green monitor. I remember my first computer – a Spectrum 128k + 2 with the ‘datacorder’ on the side but I was jealous because a friend of mine had a +3 (it had a floppy disc drive(!))
@Rich My first computer was an Apple IIe 🙂 I was so much in love with it. But one little sister spilled windows cleaner on it and it was its end.. sniff I still cry for it
Ha Ha – I had a Spectrum Sinclair +4 WOW!!
@milton sure those were the times when you were jaw dropped with when you firts saw color in laser prints wow
The firsts screens was only one color and very crude
Thank you very much this article is fantastic.
nice collection , , i anm rubbish at logos , i use odesk for that
I remember my first computer that I mainly used to speed up my typing skills. The good old time of 486 machines with DOS operating system
the lcd font display image messes with my eyes!!
It would be nice to have an extremely up to date computer inside one of those old cases with a mono green monitor.
I will share with my friends. I hope that many people also have hobby the same as me.
I want to be famous and have a lot of money
I remember my first computer – a Spectrum 128k + 2 with the ‘datacorder’ on the side but I was jealous because a friend of mine had a +3 (it had a floppy disc drive(!))
I will tell all my friends and my relatives know about this and it was great fun. thank you