Field Journal #3: The evolution of books and illustrations

After diving in the assigned reading, I started to feel like I was in the movie Inception. I was reading a book and inside that book talked about printed books, showing pictures of books. On a serious note, I found these chapters just as interesting as the last assigned chapters, and no I'm not saying that just to kiss butt, but I'm always reading from a book, electronic or physical, and always thought where the idea of books came from.

In short, these chapters consisted of printing in Europe, different techniques of printing, and what printing was used for. As the printing of books became more available and affordable, the demand for them started to skyrocket, as well as the quality and quantity in these books. With woodblock printing to detailed illustrations, colors, layouts, and other ideas gave life to books.

What caught my attention was the first foldout illustrations of Methoni, Greece and the Greek island of Rhodes by Erhard Reuwich. The foldouts were four-page-views of these beautiful places, but what struck me was the fact that this is were foldouts in magazines and other books originated from that are still being used today. However, the foldouts today often seen in magazines isn't utilized the same way as Reuwich used his for. While Reuwich used his panoramic views of beautiful cities for his journal sightings, companies use people (male and/or female) with voluptuous bodies to market a product or they're used just to showcase things such as cars, houses, or a bunch of ideas bundled up into an abstract illustration. 

cityofsound habitus magazine

magazineadsandbooks.com

In addition to foldouts in magazines, there are children books that consist of pop ups and motion tabs that bring the books to life. It may not be a fold out, but maybe it could have derived from it or had been an improvisation of it. Catering to children requires a lot of interaction, especially for learning, and the pop ups and motion tabs help that out a lot.

Ellen K; article written by Nicole Chenoweth; ryanseacrest.com