The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians? Phoenicians traveled to Greece to trade.

How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor? Several consonants were adopted as vowels and additional letters were included.

Why is the Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet? It has given rise to several other alphabets.

Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets? Some letters have similar sounds and structures while others are completely different.

Post an example of the Greek alphabet in visual form.

The Phoenician Alphabet | 1050 BC

The Phoenician alphabet is based on what principle? One sign represents one spoken sound.

Describe the shape of the letters and what tool created them? Most letters are angular and straight and inscribed with a stylus.

What two reasons made the Phoenician alphabet so successful? It was simpler than other languages at the time and trading spread it to other countries.

What long term effects on the social structures of civilizations did the Phoenicians have with the creation of their alphabet? It was the first widespread script, it was used in many languages, it allowed common people to learn to write, disintegrated class distinctions between royalty and common people,

Post an example of the Phoenician alphabet in visual form.

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt? Persians, Greeks, Romans

Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
What was discovered on the inside of the temples? Carved and painted images on every wall and surface.

Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language? Cuneiform

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements? Logographic represents ideas or objects, alphabetic represents sounds or letters.

The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words? Hiero meaning sacred and glyphic meaning engraving or writing.

What is a scribe? Someone who can read and write.

Who else was trained to read and write? Why? Military leaders to communicate while in battle.

Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.
What is papyrus and how was it made? A substrate made from reeds native to Egypt. Wet reeds are placed criss-cross over each other and are flattened and dried. Then, they are rubbed with flat stones until the surface becomes smooth.

What is a substrate? A surface on which a process occurs.

What were the Books of the Dead? Books containing instructions and spells on how to navigate the afterlife.

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language? Few people were capable of reading or writing them.

Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.
What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered? A slab with the same inscription written in three different languages.

What three languages are included on the stone? Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek.

Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered? A chunk of the stone was missing and none of the three texts were complete.

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough? Jean Francois Champollion, he matched up the hieroglyphics with the Greek version of the name Pharaoh Ramses

Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance? We now know a lot about Ancient Egyptians and their hieroglyphics.

Cuneiform and the Sumerians | 3,000 BC

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean? Nomadic Civilizations – they migrated.
Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization? It is the area where the first written language was created.
What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate? Agriculture
Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph).
Why was Cuneiform created? To keep track of business transactions.
What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface? Clay tablets. Wet the clay and form it into a flat surface, then used a wedge shaped stylus made from reeds to make impressions into the clay surface. Then layed the tablets in the sun to dry and harden.
What did Cuneiform begin as a series of? Pictographs.
Post an example of evolved Cuneiform (wedge-shaped).
After it evolved over time, what shape did the characters of Cuneiform evolve into? More abstract into a wedge shaped language.
Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.
After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language? The Akkadians adopted Sumerian culture and their written language.
What is a pictograph? A pictorial or visual representation of an object.
Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture? They had their own form of communication.

Assignment 14 Research and Inspiration

For this assignment, I am creating a career poster for a publication designer. I have already researched this career on the careers page on my blog.

Inspiration

I like the gray type in this background.


I like this poster all-around. I Like the repetition of the stripes and lines and the breaking up of the word "graphic."

Brainstorm
I want my poster to have a light background to place the emphasis on my main text and picture. The main text will possibly be "Publication Design" or something to describe the career. However, I want to incorporate the visual organization techniques we learned, so I may also add some lines or other elements to guide the viewer's eye through the page.

Visual Organization

Not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them.

Eye Movement

• Typical eye moves left to right and top to bottom.
• Controlling eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye.
• The eye tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first. In pictures of people, the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eye.
• Light areas of a composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area.
• Diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement.

Optical Center

• The spot where the human eye tends to enter the page. Optical center is slightly avove the mathematical center (exact) and just to the left.

Z Pattern

• Our visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally in the shape of a "Z."
• Effective page design maps a viewer's route through information. The designer's objective is to lead the viewer's eye to the important elements or information.

Fonts

• Use no more than two fonts on a page. Make sure the fonts complement each other.
• Avoid all uppercase letters.
• Choose the correct fonts to create a tone or theme.
• Don't overuse decorative or script fonts.

typography.com/email/2010_03/index.htm

Visual Hierarchy

• Establishes focal points based on their importance to the message that's being communicated. A crucial part of the design process is to establish an order of elements to help the viewer absorb the information provided by a design.
• To establish a hierarchy, establish what the viewer should look at in what order.

The Grid

• A way of organizing content on a page using any combination of margins, guide lines, rows and columns.
• Instituted by Modernism.
• Assists the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images.
• Consists of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guidelines for distributing elements across a format.
• Every design will require a different grid structure to address the particular elements within the design.
• The grid is used not only to clarify the message being communicated but to also unify the elements.

Cave Paintings | 35,000 years ago

What are cave paintings? A way to visually communicate information to others in a sophisticated and creative way. Beautiful, detailed, and colorful representations found on the inside of cave walls and ceilings.

Name several common themes found in cave paintings? Large animals, tracings of human hands, and abstract patterns.

How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)? Paints mixed from water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and hematite. Brushes made from sticks, small stones, leaves, and animal hair.

What is the most famous cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom? Lascaux, France. Accidentally discovered by four teenage boys.

Lascaux Cave Painting:

Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity? The paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide emitted from the tourists. Lascaux II was created- a man-made replica next to the original.

In Altamira cave, why do most of the paintings have a red hue? The red clay in the soil used to create the paintings.

Altamira Cave Painting:

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be? Marceline Sanz de Sautuola and his daughter Maria. 19,000 years ago.

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom? Chauvet-Point Arc. Thre speleologists Eliette Brunell Deschamps, Christian Hillaire, Jean-Marie Chauvet in 1994.

Chauvet-Point Arc Cave Painting:

What was different about the painting techniques at this site? Walls were scraped clear of debris and a 3D effect was created on some paintings.

What is "speleology"? The study or exploration of caves.

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings? To tell a story or recount an event, as an instructional visual aid to help teach hunting techniques, magical or religious reasons in hopes that the image of a desired event would come true.