Text Media for Idiots

Before the creation of writing systems, only verbal communication existed and was used to orally pass on cultural norms, rituals and stories from one generation to the next. With the evolution of culture and language, the need for better methods to communicate grew as well. The first writing systems stemmed from simple drawings that became pictographs. From these pictographs, writing systems became more standardized for better understanding.

 

Important innovations include the changing of writing directions and the creation of phonograms by the Sumerians, the use of papyrus and reed brushes for writing by the Egyptians, the use of a 22 letter alphabet by the Phoenicians, the use of a 23 letter alphabet and capital letters by the Romans, the use of lower case letters and word spacing by the Celts, and the standardization of writing by Charlemagne in the late 700s AD. Writing then moved to printing in the mid-1400s when Gutenburg created his moveable type press.

 

 

 
VLetter.com. (n.d.). "History of Handwriting: the development of handwriting and the modern alphabet". Retrieved July 17, 2013, from http://www.vletter.com/handwriting.htm