3 Images from Chapter 1

I really love the images of Greek writing as it developed, on page 7, figures 10, 11, and 13. when I studied in Greece, I had to take Greek, and I had many classics majors as friends who were taking ancient Greek. The languages are very different. I was always fascinated and wondered, How did such changes get made? Who decided what letters to keep and which ones to change? The more interesting thing is that the letters, despite having different patterns, still look, in essence, Greek. Why is that?

The second picture that struck me was the illustrative letter in figure 61 on page 9. Type always seems so rigid, and set, and these illustrated letters are so creative and colorful. They have art incorporated into them, and really add an elegance to the page. I would love to design such detailed illustrative letters, if there were a use for them now. I also love the idea that the letter itself can convey a feeling about the story, if not foreshadowing or a scene from the story itself. You don't have to look at the lines in the letter to determine a hidden meaning, its right there illustrated for you.
The last image I find interesting is the old time newspaper print in figure 94 on page 13. I have never really understood the rhyme or reason behind the gaudy and unrelated fonts printed in the early days of print. It's almost as if the goal was to be as obnoxious and unsettling as possible in order to catch attention and draw in eyes to certain words, using any means necessary. There is no white space, and the sizing between the fonts is so spurratic, you have to read very careful to walk away with a complete understanding. It would be very easy to misread or mislead. I think that since font was so new, they were pulling out every stop and now-cliche to use the new technology, like a child with a new toy, and once the public got sick of it, many of those techniques were put in the books for new designers as "never agains".