The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians?
Through trade agreements.

How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor?
It adapted the letter forms.

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

Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets?


The greek alphabet uses different symbols than the english alphabet, but still conveys a consonant or vowel. 

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 a spoken sound.

Describe the shape of the letters and what tool created them?
The letters were angular and straight and made with a stylus.

What two reasons made the Phoenician alphabet so successful?
It was simple and easy to read. The maritime trading culture spread the alphabet.

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 phonetic script. It was used to disintegrate class division between royalty and the common people.
Post an example of the Phoenician alphabet in visual form. 

Assignment 14 Research and Inspiration

What kind of message is being communicated?
- Persuasion to look into animations.

How can this be done?
- Use of popular examples on the poster.

Who is the audience?
- The class.

What are you trying to tell them?
- That my poster is pretty good and that animating is a good job.

What colors and styles will work for them?
- Darker colors are preferred with light text to draw attention to the words being said.  Should be simple and easy to read while still getting the message across.

Visual Organization

Not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them.

Eye Movement: 

The 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 ares 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 above mathematical center just to the left. 

It takes a compelling element to pull your eyes away from this spot. 

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 the information. The designer's objective is to lead the viewer's eye to the important elements or information.

Fonts

Use no more than 2 fonts on a single page.

Fonts should compliment each other.

Avoid all uppercase, unless you're trying to grab their attention on a certain point.

Choose the right font.

Don't overuse fancy/complicated fonts.

www.typography.com/email/2010_032010_03/index.htm

Visual Hierarchy: Will establish focal points based on importance to message being communicated.

A crucial part of the design process is to establish an order of elements, a visual structure, to help the viewer absorb the information provided by a design.

To establish a visual hierarchy, ask yourself the following:

What do I want my viewer to look at first? Second? Third?

The Grid:

A way of organizing content on a page, using any combination of margins, guide lines, rows and columns.

Instituted by Modernism

Can assist the audience by breaking info into manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images.

A grid consists of a distinct set of alignment-based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format.

Every design is different; therefore every design will require a different gird structure...one that addresses the particular elements within the design.

A grid is used to clarify the message being communicated and to unify the elements.

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC

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

Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.




What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
Hieroglyphics.

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

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements?Logograms are visual symbols to represent objects.
Alphabetic came later to document writing.

The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words?
Sacred engravings.

What is a scribe?


Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
Students and Military personnel. 







Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.

What is papyrus and how was it made?
Substrate made from reeds. Wet reeds are placed, flattened and dried. Rubbed with flat stones until smooth.

What is a substrate?
Natural stone/surface.

What were the Books of the Dead?
Instructions on how to reach the afterlife.

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language?
The Greeks and Romans overtook Egypt and after a while, few egyptians could actually read the hieroglyphics. 



Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.

What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
A slab with three different languages.

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

Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered?
The texts are not completely complete.

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough?
Jean Francois Champollion. He was able to decipher the text.

Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance?
We now know about the ancient egyptians. 

Cuneiform and the Sumerians | 3,000 BC

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean?
They are the beginning of our recorded history. They created vases and bowls.

Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization?
The land is very fertile and the first written language was developed there.

What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate?
Their agriculture. 



Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph).

Why was Cuneiform created?It was formed because they needed a way to keep track all business transactions.

What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface?
Clay. They would first wet the clay, form it into a flat surface, and use a wedge made of reeds to make impressions into the surface. Then they would dry.

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?
A wedge shaped language.

Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.

After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language?
They became sophisticated.

What is a pictograph?
An ideogram that conveys a meaning.

Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture? 
The language helped make more simple and also created the business records allowing the civilization to prosper. 

Cave Paintings | 35,000 years ago

What are cave paintings?
A way to visually communicate. They are beautiful, detailed and colorful representations on the inside of caves.

Name several common themes found in cave paintings?Large animals and traces of human hands.


How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)?
They were made by mixing water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and forms of iron oxide.
Brushed were made by putting together sticks, stones, leaves, and animal hair. 


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


Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.



Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity?
It was closed because of damage created by carbon dioxide emitted from tourists. The french government made a replica of the cave.

Post an example of cave painting(s) from Altamira cave.

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

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be?
Amateur artists. 19000 years old.

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?
Chavet-Pont Arc in France. Discovered by Eliette Brunell Deschamps, Christian Hillaire, Jean-Marie Chauvet. 


Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.

What was different about the painting techniques at this site?
The walls were scraped to make the walls clear of debris and there were 3-D effects created by etching around edges. 

What is "speleology"?
The scientific study of caves. 

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings? 
To tell a story, help teach others, painted for magical or religious reasons.