Corona delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne, page 100 (recto)

In 1601, Corona delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne was published by Cesare Vecellio in Venice, Italy. This woodcut printed book featured decorative designs, repeated motifs, and border that included embroidery and lacework, which are all characteristics associated with women at the time traditionally. This book was intended to be used by other women who wanted to participate in their own forms of needlework, and this woodcut printing method helped make reproducing these detailed patterns easy to recreate and reference as needed. This page, page 100, specifically features different kinds of floral motifs arranged across four horizontal sections, emphasizing the ability for decorate patterns to be communicated visually in an organized manner. Printing out these designs helped for clarity in guiding the at home textile users how to create designs, rather than relying solely on written or verbal instructions.

The main thing that I wanted to highlight was how printing was able to revolutionarily change the way communication design was spread through allowing information and imagry to be reproduced and distributed worldwide. All forms of printing, including the one mentioned here, woodblock printing, made reproducing visual information seem like something so effortless, when before, designs were all copied individually by hand. In this example, the use of visual strategies sure as organized layouts, repetition, and ornamentation were able to help communicate designs that readers could create on their own time with ease. This demonstrates how printing was able to redefine what graphic design meant, and how its purpose of it is far beyond just communicating written or spoken information. It is a space that opened up opportunity for creative ideas, new patterns, and visual instructions to come to life in an accessible and consistent manner that was understandable by the general public. 

This print helps highlight how femininity shapes women's personal interests and how those interest have redefined graphic design. I find it interesting that embroidery, an activity that was traditionally seen as a feminine activity, became the subject of not just this page, but the entire design book. It makes me wonder how influential women's creative choices influenced the information that was visualized by printers and how they chose to reproduce and redistribute the details. The designs and patterns that are reflected on the page represent many principles that we still use in graphic design today such as repetition, organization, composition, and visual symmetry despite embroidery typically being considered a domestic activity in this time period. To me, this proves that women't interests directly impact the development of graphic design, and activities associated with femininity helped spread information through decorative visual design and printed communication.