Hello, i'm here to discuss the subject go my essay which asks: 'Have the advances in digital technology actually aided the resurgence of handmade arts and craft?' A bit wordy at the moment, i realise, but summarised here perfectly by a T-800 Terminator, and Wallace & Gromit.
My research starts way back in the 16/17th Century with the painted signs of pubs & inns. Obviously if you wanted anything like this made for your business or inn, then you'd have to hire a skilled artist using his freehand painting and layout skills.
Further down the history line, hand painted type was being used to advertise and brand up-and-coming businesses in the late 1800's. Coca-cola, Ford & Pepsi all had hand painted, scripted logos created by sign painters.
Sign Painting arose as a means to identify products and businesses. It became a necessity to have one to gain customers as capitalism began to boom and sign painting slowly was turned into an advertising medium.
Since the invention of the Printing Press in 1440, another handmade product that early origins are Zines. Benjamin Franklin produced whats considered to be the first ever zine - a literally magazine for a psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania, handed out to staff and patients.
In 1958 with the introduction of Xerox photocopiers and lost the low costs to produce copies, it was easier than ever to make a poster or zine for your band. Punk zines emerged in the late 70's as a result of this new technology.
However, the introduction of automated,digital laser cutting machines in the late 70's early 80's meant the demand for hand painted signs all but died out. They were replaced by generic vinyl signs, created in less than half the time, for less than half the price. In an age where people wanted a products on demand.
Along with the rise of the internet in the late 90's, zines and handmade posters faded from public awareness. Many of the zines were turned into websites instead, where they could perform a similar function as the printed version had done.
Although new technology is making production faster and cheaper the products it is making lack soul and a human touch. Lazer cut letters don't allow for any type of personality or variation. People are tired of having the same looking signs, pictures or jewellery as 100's of other people. "The public wantes to know where their eggs are coming from" (S.Illenburg)
Today, business owners don't want to invest in their shops like they used to - they go for cheap signage. But the businesses that are hiring artists to paint their signs and interiors are gaining more customers, due it not looking exactly the same as 20 other shops in the street.
Admitedly the power of the internet has benefited handmade crafts people - launched in 2005, Etsy amongst others has enabled its 1.4 million active sellers to sell their creations all over the globe. In order for the brand to grow it did change their policy in 2013, and now allows the outsourcing of production to factories, which has caused a number of longtime members to leave for rival companies.
Projects like 'A love letter to you' and 'Signs for the homeless' brought back the art of hand paint type back into the community and could be seen again on a large scale. Even some graffiti writers-come sign writers were being influenced by the skills and techniques of the past masters.
People seem to be going back to old aesthetics and old values. Big businesses seem to be latching on to the trend as well. Audiences can relate to some artwork better if they feel its something they couldve made in their kitchen or living room at home. As opposed to a computer generated image,which has a sense of mystery about it.
At this point, my presentation crashed an burned. Due to my consistent failure to get anywhere near to completing my final essay, or full work out what i want to investigate has caused this whole project and all the related practical work to stall.I can only try and bring the essay writing to some sort of completion so i can try and work out how i want my visual diagram to look.
The D-day for the percha kutcha had already been put pushed back once, which was a massive relief as i wasn't at all prepared for it. Having said that, i wasn't massively better-off come the day i actually had to present my findings. I mean, i had done plenty of research, god knows I've done plenty of that, but as far as presenting my own ideas and designs i didn't have a whole lot of direction as i was still wrestling with how my final essay was going to look and what point i was trying to get across. As far as speaking in front of a small group goes, it wasn't a total failure - the only thing i really felt nervous about was the fact that i didn't have an awful lot of work to talk about,compared to everyone else. I didn't stutter or mumble too much, at least i don't think so. I should've included subtitles. Cant say i enjoyed it, but it raised some interesting talking points within the group afterwards and there were several suggestions as to how i could convert the research into my final visual diagram. However at this point getting my essay finally put together and out of the way is the next thing i need to do, and fast.
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