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1045
Invention of first movable type by Pi Sheng
Between year 1041 and 1048, Pi Sheng invented the first movable type by carving individual characters onto small blocks of clay. Each block was hardened by fire and could be used repeatedly. These pieces were glued to iron plates to make a page and each page was used hundreds of times. When printing was done, the pieces were removed from the plates and reused again. This inventio was limited in China because the Chinese alphabet’s characters were too large to put on movable type. -
1278
Printing arrives in Europe
By the 11th century, paper was introduced in Europe. It took until 1276, that printing came to Europe in the form of mill in Italy. -
1439
Invention of mobile type printing
A German craftsman and inventor, Johannes Gutenberg refined a method to efficiently print books and pamphlets. He introduced the invention of a mobile type printing press with type that was easier to change, making mass production possible. The invention spread throughout Europe and printing news became more popular. -
1470
Invention of the Roman typeface
Nicolas Jenson, a French engraver, pioneer and printer based in Italy, invented a “Roman” typeface for publications around 1470. This typeface was much easier to read, compared to the typefaces Gutenberg had used, which copied the handwritten books. -
1530
Type foundry opened by Claude Garamond
By 1530, Claude Garamond, a French type designer and publisher based in Paris, opened the first type foundry. He worked on the type now called old-style serif design, which produced letter that resembled handwriting with a slightly more structured design. -
1561
Sale of Garamond’s typefaces
After his death, in 1561, Garamond’s typefaces were sold and distributed in Europe, in the form of punchers and matrixes. This popularized Garamond’s designs. -
First newspaper printed
The World Association of Newspapers considers the first newspaper to be “The Relation”, which was published regularly in Germany starting 1604. But the early mass produced newspapers cost close to what most workers earned in a week and only the wealthy could afford them. -
First hand press built out of iron
In 1800 British statesman and scientist Charles Stanhope built the first hand press entirely out of iron. It doubled the usable paper size and drastically reduced the use of manual labor. -
First photo print in a newspaper
By 1880 the first photo was printed in a range of full tones using the halftone process. This introduced sensational tabloids like “New York Daily News” and the “New York Daily Mirror”, which published photo spreads of the new craze: celebrities. -
Beginning of The Art Nouveau
In the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, movements of style and technology raised the print world into the modern age. One of these movements was called The Art Nouveau, which began in 1890. It was aimed at modernizing design, seeking to escape the old-fashioned historical styles. These movements of print media were seen in publications of the time. -
Period: to
Bauhaus art school
An important institution in the media world – Bauhaus was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933. It was one of the first modern art schools that produced the new centuries designers and numerous graphic artists working in print media. -
Popularization of the typewriter
In 1935 the electric typewriter came onto the market. These typewriters became popular in the U.S. after World War II. These typewriters had different fonts with exchangeable cartridges. -
Digitalization of media
In the 1960s the computer took over the media world. The evolution of type design continued, no longer being hand cut or mechanically cast, but instead digitalized either in bitmap or vector. As new computers were released, more businesses started using digital advertising.
