The ampersand was created to be a symbol that basically meant “to include” or “in addition”. -The ampersand’s shape has changed over time as well as its purpose. Originally it was used for literary purposes only. Modern variations of the ampersand are being used for decoration and as a form of art.

Stained glass was one of Gothic’s styles most important contributions to history. The vivid colors and colorization of the glass allowed a new way to tell stories that didn’t take up extra space.

Today stained glass can be seen in more places than in traditional churches. Stained glass is now a form of contemporary art. The images have become more simplified but are still visually interesting with the bright colors.

Perspective is the use of a flat surface to show dimension and detail.

Over the years perspective pieces have advanced and been used from everything from logo design to sidewalk chalk murals. The creation of perspective took art to a whole new level, multiple levels.

Trademarks were created to use as a form of signature to claim an article or an item.

The purpose of the trademark has not changed much to this day. It is intended to claim. The trademark symbol has changed to be more simple and more generic.

Information graphics are intended to do just that, to inform. This concept can be seen in cave drawings where future generations were informed on how to kill food or what to run away from. They were practical ways of permanent communication.

Today, information graphics are still used to inform but not because of lack of resources. They are used to communicate a message by breaking through the noise encompassed with advertising.

Illuminated manuscripts are in essence ordinary books intended to shock and awe with decorations.

In a lot of ways illuminated manuscripts can be seen on-line on a website or a blog. What is a blog? Nothing more than written information designed to be eye catching with graphics around it.

Woodcut is a form of art where a scene or an illustration is cut out of wood and the non-printable section of the piece is gouged out.

Woodcutting is still used today in more modern styles of art but ultimately the idea of relief printing has become rather popular. Screen printing for t shirts is an excellent process that is similar to the woodcutting idea. Instead of gouging the unprintable parts out light is used to reverse the screen.

Calligraphy is a style of typography intended to dress up type and provide an elegant flow with the stroke variation.

Calligraphy is still used today. It is more used as a form of decoration than to write out sentences.

In African art many features of the human body are amplified and exaggerated.

African art is still popular today and still remains true to those exaggerated features.

Symbolism is used in literary and artistic styles to convey a hidden message or a deeper meaning.

In today’s society symbolism is everywhere from logos to political cartoons. Symbolism is used in design to take literal meanings and translate into a visually interesting unique idea.

The drop cap was used in illuminated manuscripts to begin a new section or a new paragraph.

This paragraph divider is still used today in almost all books.

Pictographs are simplified pictures used to represent an individual word or an idea.

The majority of pictographs today are used to provide information and keep people aware of what is going around them in a quick and effective way.

An ideograph is a simplified symbol intended to represent an entire idea. The Chinese used this idea as their written language.

Today, the Chinese are not the only people who use ideographs to communicate. Ideo-graphs can be seen throughout every city.

The Renaissance brought several important attributes to art. Possibly one of the most important of those attributes was the sense of realism. The Renaissance inspired realism which allows the viewer to relate more to the subject in the piece. Realism has allowed modern artists to not only create detailed art for visual pleasure but has allowed architects to give a realistic mock up of a building before the customer has to spend money on it. It has completely improved modern society.

Italicized writing is a form of writing that angles the text. This is used to create variation or different moods of text.

The invention of italicized type really benefited graphic design because it gives designers another element to set a mood. Italicized writing can be seen in a lot of wedding invitations.

One style of Roman art that is still here today is mosaic scenes. These scenes could be seen in Roman art not just in public places but in people’s private homes.

Mosaics have been modernized but are still a big part of artistic expression. Many mosiac pieces can be seen in homes as back splashes.

Baroque art took the Renaissance style and added key elements for drama like light and composition.

The Baroque period began the idea of not centering everything on a page completely. It also inspired lighting added for drama and depth.

The Pointed Arch originated in the Gothic style. These arches completely changed archi-tecture.

The pointed arch really encouraged architects to stretch their boundaries out of just rect-angular shapes. Today there are entire buildings based of that pointed style.

A chop is a Chinese symbol used as a signature.

In modern society a letterhead is an excellent example of an evolved chop. A letterhead is used by a company or individual to show possession.

Movable type completely revolutionized communication as a whole. This invention allowed mass production to be possible.

Today mass production is such a big part of our society. Newspapers are just one example where movable type has completely changed entire nations.