EDLD 5366 DigGrap/DTP Week 1 Assignment 1.2

In this assignment, you will investigate ancient manuscripts and books that give you insight into the history of graphic communication and how the principles of design were used in these early manuscripts. You will write a 50-100 word reflection in your blog that addresses the following:

1. Describe your first impression of these ancient works in respect to design
2. Identify examples of each of the four principles of design
3. What techniques did the authors/artists employ to help us understand the importance of
those manuscripts/books?


"The Book of Kells is the most famous, and one of the finest of a group of manuscripts in what is known as the Insular style, produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in monasteries in Ireland."(Wikipedia)

My feelings looking at the many plates are that people with a complex and detailed eye for design created this beautiful work. To have the ability to create works of intricate, detailed art such as the Book of Kells required geniuses throughout the centuries. Prior to learning about design principles, a viewer would just comment on how beautiful a piece of art is without understanding or "seeing" the 4 design principles. Once a person knows what to look for or what elements are at work in a work, it makes the art more interesting to gaze upon.


The Book of Kells has many illustrations that have decorated outside borders and many rectangles divided into quarters. The use of repeating decorative shapes and symbols is seen throughout the plates. The images are very neat and tidy looking and have aligned contrasting colors repeated throughout an illustration. The illustrations are set on an old parchment (vellum) background with extremely detailed elements close up. The plates also appear very balanced and aligned looking from farther away. There are lots of symmetrical shapes containing scriptures written in black, red, purple and yellow ink, and have contrasting colors used repetitively. Inside the rectangular borders are repeating designs of varying colors showing both contrasting and repetitive styles concurrently.

The creators of the Book of Kells used vellum as the medium on which to create these works. Also, the fact that they were painstakingly created using such intricate, beautiful and time-consuming detail helps the viewer understand just how important the scripture and books of the bible were to people from this and other eras. The topic also helps us understand just how important the work was to its creators. They lived their lives serving God and showed His glory to others in these beautiful works, many of which have been destroyed over the centuries. That makes the remaining plates so precious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bok/index.htm