Before Class, Chapter 1

Ever since Homo sapiens emerged and evolved on this planet, we have seen many ways and forms of communication evolve as well. Early prehistoric people found ways to communicate with one another, whether it was through speech, paintings, letters, etc. Evidence shows that early Africans and Europeans left behind paintings in caves of animals and geometric symbols. Pictographs and petroglyphs evolved, thus making visual communication possible. The land of Mesopotamia is where the cradle of civilization began and where numerous inventions were produced. We must not forget one of the most important inventions though, and that was the invention of writing produced by the Sumerian people of Mesopotamia. Evidence of written records on clay tablets and pictographs displayed on pottery used by this community proves that this was the earliest writing, ever.

As time went on, the land of Mesopotamia was taken over by the Persians, and the invention of writing was forwarded to Egypt and Phoenicia. The Egyptians then evolved a much more complex writing system that was based on pictographs. On top of that, the Egyptians also retained a picture writing system which is formally known as hieroglyphics. As time went on, Egyptians used hieroglyphs for decorative and inscriptional purposes. You could see these hieroglyphs on coffins, furniture, and jewelry. These hieroglyphs were also found in interior and exterior temples. A huge step in Egyptian visual communication was the development of papyrus. Papyrus was a material made by Egyptians that was used for writing and painting on. They also used papyrus for manuscripts and other purposes.

We must never underestimate the Egyptian culture. Illustrated manuscripts, hieroglyphics, and papyri is where visual communications all started. These inventions and innovations made by these prehistoric people is where graphic design all evolved. You will see as time and technology progresses, the graphic design we see today doesn't quite look like the design made by the prehistoric people.

One fact that I learned from this chapter was that Egyptians were the first people to make illustrated manuscripts. These manuscripts contained words and pictures that were combined to communicate important information. It is very interesting to see the designs in the figures in this text book. It's mind blowing to see how these people once communicated compared to how people communicate today in the modern world.