This is usually done to add to the image being presented on screen, but can also be used to conceal something (in movies superimposition is often used to place an image over the original footage, and effectual technique often used to add things like ghosts, backgrounds, foregrounds, modelled animation and computer graphics to a film.) I watched a music video for a Talking Heads song called (Nothing But) flowers, I thought the use of words on the moving images in this video were quite unusual. I found a book in borders which explained some of the uses for Superimposition in moving graphics. This music video uses selected lyrics from the song which appear on screen at the same time as they are being sung.
A family friend has a small printing press, all invitations and thank you cards are made from scratch and each one is such a lovely work of art. Everything has been specifically selected, the colour of ink, the typeface used, lovely hand made paper, the distance between each single letter can make such a difference aesthetically to the overall image. Layout plays a big part in producing something wonderful, it really makes all the difference.
Not only layout but also how something feels, printed typefaces can be very pleasing on the eye due to shape of the letters, but having them embossed, glossy or particular parchment will affect how they feel to the touch which can really make something truly special. I have always been particularly interested in book cover design. A book cover can completely sell a book to a person. The choices in paper used, the layout of the title, the quality of the spine, even the size and spacing of the font used for the text. All these things can really seduce you whether your consciously aware of it or not. I think it's wonderful.
We went on a filed trip to the Glasgow Mitchell library to look at the archives and what information is readily available to the public.
It was really amazing, a different sort of trip from the Panopticon, but a good one none the less! There's really nothing like seeing first hand documents, some of which were so old and in excellent condition because of the care taken over them but the library. I love history and looking back at how things have changed. My favourite thing to look at is how hand writing has changed over time, some of these documents had such a beautiful hand, most of which were more legible today than most. We have lost the art of calligraphy in present day culture, only a select few seem to still hold an importance for this art. I blame computers mainly, with this new technology we have lost the importance of ink on paper and hand printed type. With endless reels of fonts readily available to us on the computer we have learnt to skip past the effort and time it takes to do this by hand.
We were shown some books that were really incredible in terms of design, one of which was a photo album for wealthy family's who could afford to get photographs taken. The book had a gilded golden design printed into the paper, it must have been quite a job to make at the time and again the craftsmanship really shows how wealthy this family must have been to own one.
This got me thinking how the world today would have been so different without the invention of the printing press, something we completely take for granted these days. Without which we wouldn't have mass production of books or newspapers.
Johannes Gutenberg is thought to be the inventor of the first printing press. The printing press originally had replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436. This invention not only revolutionised the production of materials such as books & newspapers, but it is also the cause of rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts. In Tv shows such as Deadwood, the episode where they set up the newspaper in town, you can see how having a printed newspaper changed things. Knowing what's going on in other places was a massive step forward for society & culture. The Gutenberg press with its wooden and later metal movable type printing remained the standard until the 20th century. 
Gundrun Zapf von Hesse is a contemporary German calligrapher, typographer and book binder. She has designed many fonts that are used worldwide today such as Diotima, used in Adobe software.
The Sherwin Beach Press is a small fine press company specialising in nonfiction prose. Their books are really beautiful. The detail that goes into their craft is to an exceptional level. They really show printmaking to a high standard.
This last picture shows an ornamented initial cap, this detailed first character of a paragraph can sit above, below, to the left of, or even behind the main body of the text, and can be set in a contrasting weight, style or colour. You can have a lot of fun designing this letter, it is often part illustration or very decorative.
The Barbarian Press was founded by Crispin & Jan Elsted in 1977. This small press and book binders have produced many books with hand printed text and illustrations.
The Barbarian press are printers and publishers of fine press books and limited editions. I think limited editions are interesting because as the designer you really have to consider what will make this edition limited or special. It has to be a more precious book to make it limited and this will be down to it's design. The text inside is usually the same it's often just the presentation that makes it limited.
The use of movable type was an improvement on handwritten manuscripts, once the type had been laid out it allowed quick production. Taking a fraction of the time taken handwriting each manuscript. Woodblock printing revolutionised European book-making.
The oldest surviving example of a printed book is thought to be the Diamond Sutra, printed in China as far back as 868 CE. This won't be the oldest book printed, many were found but were undated...
In this case I think the music video hasn't aged very well, it looks extremely dated. Mostly I think this is to do with the type faces used, you really notice how much time has past when you look at the styles of type used in films and short videos. Like everything else fonts and type faces come in and out of fashion and can quickly look very outdated. Looking back at this music video, released in 1988 (so not that long ago at all) we seem to have advanced so much stylistically and technically. It's exciting to think what we'll be able to achieve in another 20 years, with everything advancing so quickly. Parts of the Talking Heads music video is done with actual live projection onto the band members faces. I find typefaces very interesting, aesthetically you can get such beautiful typefaces especially when they have been specifically designed and done by hand or printed on a letter press.
A family friend has a small printing press, all invitations and thank you cards are made from scratch and each one is such a lovely work of art. Everything has been specifically selected, the colour of ink, the typeface used, lovely hand made paper, the distance between each single letter can make such a difference aesthetically to the overall image. Layout plays a big part in producing something wonderful, it really makes all the difference.
Not only layout but also how something feels, printed typefaces can be very pleasing on the eye due to shape of the letters, but having them embossed, glossy or particular parchment will affect how they feel to the touch which can really make something truly special. I have always been particularly interested in book cover design. A book cover can completely sell a book to a person. The choices in paper used, the layout of the title, the quality of the spine, even the size and spacing of the font used for the text. All these things can really seduce you whether your consciously aware of it or not. I think it's wonderful.We went on a filed trip to the Glasgow Mitchell library to look at the archives and what information is readily available to the public.
It was really amazing, a different sort of trip from the Panopticon, but a good one none the less! There's really nothing like seeing first hand documents, some of which were so old and in excellent condition because of the care taken over them but the library. I love history and looking back at how things have changed. My favourite thing to look at is how hand writing has changed over time, some of these documents had such a beautiful hand, most of which were more legible today than most. We have lost the art of calligraphy in present day culture, only a select few seem to still hold an importance for this art. I blame computers mainly, with this new technology we have lost the importance of ink on paper and hand printed type. With endless reels of fonts readily available to us on the computer we have learnt to skip past the effort and time it takes to do this by hand.
We were shown some books that were really incredible in terms of design, one of which was a photo album for wealthy family's who could afford to get photographs taken. The book had a gilded golden design printed into the paper, it must have been quite a job to make at the time and again the craftsmanship really shows how wealthy this family must have been to own one.
This got me thinking how the world today would have been so different without the invention of the printing press, something we completely take for granted these days. Without which we wouldn't have mass production of books or newspapers.
Johannes Gutenberg is thought to be the inventor of the first printing press. The printing press originally had replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436. This invention not only revolutionised the production of materials such as books & newspapers, but it is also the cause of rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts. In Tv shows such as Deadwood, the episode where they set up the newspaper in town, you can see how having a printed newspaper changed things. Knowing what's going on in other places was a massive step forward for society & culture. The Gutenberg press with its wooden and later metal movable type printing remained the standard until the 20th century. 
Gundrun Zapf Von Hesse is a typographer who's work is very detailed and beautiful.
The Sherwin Beach Press is a small fine press company specialising in nonfiction prose. Their books are really beautiful. The detail that goes into their craft is to an exceptional level. They really show printmaking to a high standard.
This last picture shows an ornamented initial cap, this detailed first character of a paragraph can sit above, below, to the left of, or even behind the main body of the text, and can be set in a contrasting weight, style or colour. You can have a lot of fun designing this letter, it is often part illustration or very decorative.
The Barbarian Press was founded by Crispin & Jan Elsted in 1977. This small press and book binders have produced many books with hand printed text and illustrations.
The Barbarian press are printers and publishers of fine press books and limited editions. I think limited editions are interesting because as the designer you really have to consider what will make this edition limited or special. It has to be a more precious book to make it limited and this will be down to it's design. The text inside is usually the same it's often just the presentation that makes it limited.
This was the original printing press shed in the back garden!
I am very interested in the Barbarian Press in particular. The Press started out in an old shed in 1988 with leaking roofs and collapsing floors! The shed was later converted into a 1,000 square foot shop containing a pressroom and composing room. Barbarian Press is run by two people, Crispin & Jan. The design and typesetting are done by Crispin, and the presswork by Jan. The barbarian Press is amazing because the type for the books is set entirely by hand. 'The first book bound by The Barbarian Press was the 1996 publication Rufinus: The Complete Poems, which won the Alcuin Society Citation for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.'
The wonderful looking printing press room where Crispin & Jan create these works of art and book bind.
The use of movable type was an improvement on handwritten manuscripts, once the type had been laid out it allowed quick production. Taking a fraction of the time taken handwriting each manuscript. Woodblock printing revolutionised European book-making.
The oldest surviving example of a printed book is thought to be the Diamond Sutra, printed in China as far back as 868 CE. This won't be the oldest book printed, many were found but were undated...
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