Meeting the readers’ expectations. The design of early printed newspapers (1605–1680)
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How did printers designed Early Modern newspapers in the 17th century and which possibilities were available to meet the expectations of their reader? For answering this question, I have decided to analyse Dutch and German newspapers out of two reasons: firstly, they begin to appear almost at the same time and the typographical schemes they developed served as patterns for later printers. Joris Veselers’ English “Corrant from Italy, Germany” served as a role model in terms of layout for the first English newspapers. Secondly, newspapers printed in these two countries followed distinctive typographical conventions. While Dutch gazette typography reflected the standards of pamphlets and broadsheets, German printers orientated themselves towards the layout of the book. I am going to analyse those features that made these Early Modern newspapers visually stand apart from other media. By that we can ask, how printers met their reader’s expectation through the design of the new medium. Continue reading