BACK IN THE GOOD OL' DAYS...

It's always been said that you need to know where you've been to know where it is you're going. The whole study of the history within subject content areas is partially in testament to that fact. For those in Graphic Communications, you've likely heard tomes from older faculty about "the way things were in the good ol' days." Especially noteworthy was the process of creating mechanicals, which took 3-5 employees, and sometimes hours if not days. It now takes one employee a fraction of an hour in a modern design studio setting.

CAL-FULLERTON has a site dedicated to sharing this with you. It typically went a little like this:

• Copywriter would compose manuscript on a typewriter, and forward it to the production artist. 
• Production artist would word count characters/copy-fit layouts based on manuals and specimens.
• Production artist would markup manuscript and send it to a typesetter (typically via a courier).
• Production artist would create keylines on pasteup board to prepare for production board.
• Line Camera artist would shoot (placeholders) Position Stats and Line art items on a stat camera
• Production artist would run the photostats through a waxer that applies a thin adhesive layer of wax that can be repositioned on the back.
• Production artist would proof galleys from the typesetter (if mistakes they would mark them up and send back to typesetter for correx). If OK, they'd wax the galleys, cut them, and position them on the pasteup boards.
• Keyline boards would be sent to the prepress house for litho stripping (making films for prepress).
• Films would be used by prepress to make plates that would then be mounted on the press.

That's a lot of steps, a lot of eyes double-checking, a lot of artisans trained in their craft, all in synch...now replaced potentially by one guy with a computer. So that one guy now has a lot of responsibility to get things right.

The old newsroom
The old ways of Typography
The old ways of the Press