ILLUMINATED PRESENTATION

CELTIC MANUSCRIPT--

the look of the style:

Celtic design is abstract and extremely complex. Geometric linear patterns weave, twist, and fill space with thick visual textures and bright pure colors. The design is also intricate and decorative.

the history & influence of the style:

During the collapse of Rome during the 8th Century there was a time of migration and upheaval throughout Europe. Different ethnic tribes fought for territory. These unsettled times were the darkest decades of the medieval era.

The Celts living in Ireland enjoyed relative isolation and peace.

In the 5th century, St. Patrick and other missionaries began to convert Celts to Christianity. The mixed culture and religion transformed Pagan temples into churches. Celtic ornaments were used in religious objects.

the key designers within the style:

Celtic design developed a lot of monograms that were used a lot in the bible. The book of Kells is the culmination of Celtic illumination. It has more full page demonstrations than any other Celtic manuscript.

the typography of the style:

A big innovation derived from the Celtics was the invention of spacing between words to help read a string of letters faster. They wrote in half-unical with full rounded characters, strong bows, and ascenders that bend to the write with a heavy triangle on to of these ascenders. It was written very carefully because of the intricate, artistic design. When you look back on the documents, there is a lot of grammatical errors because they focused so much on the design of it.