Hot Metal Composition

Invented in the mid 15th Century known as ‘movable type’. It was intruded in 1448 but accepted in 1462 making it widely used.

Each piece had a raised image of a letter, number or symbol which had to be aligned on a composing stick one by one. The pieces were then inked and printed onto the page.

I personally think its awesome how printed type meant selecting each character one by one.

Phototypesetting

First appearance was in 1960, phototypesetting is where computer type setting began. It was the early generation on computing which consisted of glass discs
(one per font) that spun in front
of a light source, which selectively exposed characters onto light-sensitive paper.

The first machine of this concept had no display, just a keyboard. Text was in-putted and then verified by you having to type the same line again to which a bell rang if it was correct.

3 - Publication layout

The paragraphs that have been set out already on the sticks are then placed on to a metal table to which a metal frame is placed around it in the size of the publication document(A4, A3 etc.).

Spacers are then added to fill the empty space and in between paragraphs to hold everything in the position required. The frame and pieces are held in place with the block spaces which widen to tightly grip everything together.

1 - The Story

An author writes a story and then sends it to a printing shop for it to be made into a book. First, the whole story is written again exactly how the author wrote it, word for word, by a typesetter on a mechanical composition machine to set the type.

Every key that is pressed, a mould for that specific letter is slid into a box the width of a piece a paper, making a line.

2 - Metal Moulds

Molten metal is pored into each letter mould of that line which is then cooled, becoming hard and then pushed onto a plate below to previous lines. A composer takes the finished lines and places them onto a huge table, separating the lines for each page.

3 - Page setting

The finished pages are then passed to the composer where he lays out 4 pages on a plate, then passed to a press to make the soft metal letters into copper so they aren’t worn out during printing.

The pages are then passed to the  ‘ready man’ where he lays the pages on the press bed, which fits 64 pages with 2 sides for both sides of the pages.

4 - Printing

The press beds must be filled full of plates before the button is pressed, sending large sheets of paper along the press to print the pages. The paper is then sent to a folding machine which folds the paper down to the page size.

The pages are used again for more print runs at a later date if the author requires so.

Scan to watch a

video on the Book Printing Process

Letraset

A British company that specialises in dry-transfer sheets used for type and colour transfer to paper. These paper sheets consisted of different font choices, type sizes and even different colours.
They became a thing in the early 1970s as a more traditional method to the digital Era.

Specific logos were also made into Letraset sheets for designers to use when designing publications for other companies.

Pencil Drawings

We all know what can be done with a range of pencils or even just a single pencil shade, but designers used the good old pencil to produce rough marks and sketches that are later developed on using Letraset, paints, markers or other methods to produce
an illustration to suit the clients needs. Some publications were purely made from pencil!

Today, designers use pencils (or pens) as a creative tool for idea generation, if you didn’t already know however!

1 - Typography

Designers used Letraset sheets for titles and sub titles when making a handmade publication as it was so much easier than using phototypesetting and produced much better results.

To apply the letter to paper, a dry-transfer sheet with all the lettering is placed and a pen is used to scribble over the letter thus applying to the paper beneath.

2 - Clip-Art sheets

Whether you’re producing a Health & Safety poster or a publication book about a city, these clip-art sheets became a very handy tool for designers. There were vast varieties of art to choose from.

Today, we jump online and have huge libraries of free-to-use vectors, the same concept as Letraset clip-art sheets.

3 - Colour sets

These were used to apply colour to your design. You placed the sheet over the top of the artwork, making sure it completely covers the area wanting colour, then draw on the sheet around the given area using
a scalpel to cut it out.

This gave way to unique handmade publications which became apparent in rare history books of places or other books that would
be used for decades.

4 - Protective coating

Toxic aerosol products were used to coat the Letraset markings in order to keep them intact for years to come. The products applied a thin polymer coating of the top of the dry-transfer which allowed it to be resistant to wear.

Many books from the 1970s era are in still really good condition today and the design even lives up to today’s standards!

See more about Letraset dry-transfer here:

http://creativepro.com/scanning-around-gene-when-letraset-was-king/

1 - Sketches

The natural form of idea generation that every designer should and must know in order to come up with a design path. Branding is a big factor in everything you do so when designing a logo, a sketch of the logo idea and expand on that to see how it would work with different mediums.

2 - Letraset Markings

Today, Letraset offer a huge range of premium quality markers which are a great way to develop initial ideas using colour. These markers are also used by many traditional designs to achieve sign writing in
a different way than using oil paints traditionally used.

Letraset also offer the original
dry-transfer sheets so if you want to use those in your design today, you can.

3 - Pen Marks

The one up from pencil sketches are pen, just without the control you get over a pencil. However, with a pen you can flow more easily as a pen is used everyday for note taking. Pens are more accessible and don’t require thought, you literally put the pen on the paper and let your mind flow.

4 - Paints

Most traditional designers and artists still use paints as a way to develop their initial ideas either to see how the design works with different materials and inks.

Paints offer a natural feel if done naturally of course, designers can opt for the modern ‘fast’ method by using free brush sets in photoshop but you miss the authenticity feeling if the design is printed.

1 - 1980

The first 3D printing patent was filed, know as rapid prototyping (RP) back then was a machine capable of, well, printing prototype products. 7 years later, the first 3D printer (SLA-1) became commercially available.

2 - 2007

The first 3D printer under $10,000 was introduced and of course, consumers went crazy for this and saw many others getting into 3D printing. This was the year that 3D printing aimed to be more available due to Dr Bowyer and his RepRep open source self replicating 3D printing technology.

A dream was set to get a printer under $5,000 which seemed impossible but now you get one for £300 if you dig deep

3 - 2009

RepRep commercial printers became available, 5 years after development started in 2004. This allows printers to use technology that is accessible to everyone, just like you see in standard printers.

4 - 2013

This was the year of growth. 3D printers became a lot cheaper and accessible, so almost everyone can own one. In a few years, I reckon about half the households world wide would have a 3D printer as they do have a normal printer.

2013 was also the year of edible printing ‘ink’ so you could literally download a food schematic and print it. Yes, with are in that world now.