Week 8 - Monograms

 Monograms

Monograms originated in Ancient Greece as a way to mark coins and personal belongings. This practice was typically reserved for the richer side of Ancient Greek people including dignitaries and other authority figures. Monograms during that time, became a signifier for where something came from, who was in charge and more. 

On Ancient Greek coins especially, there would be what we would call a ‘mint mark’. This displays where the coin was made, what power figure was in charge of the mint, and even what year it was all with the use of monograms.

As thousands upon thousands of these monograms where produced, for coins alone, this signifies the sheer importance of the monogram, what it was used for and how effective it was to convey information across small areas, like the surface of a coin. 

Over time monograms became a signifier of personal belongings, taking off in the Middle Ages to signify a persons piece of art, sculpture even furniture and textiles before being sold or traded. Monograms also were used as an important piece of royal signification especially on clothing, documents and more. The modern use of the monogram came about from the Victorian age. Households used monograms to label everything as theirs. From a ladies shawls and a mens uniforms, to prevent them getting mixed up, to prams and more, monograms became a fashion trend and a simple way to decorate any object. 

This decoration has carried on throughout the years to what we know of it now, a symbol that marks important occasions and logos. Some of the most famous monograms include infamous brand names like Yves Saint Laurent infamous looped YSL logo. 

These monograms used as logos help us to identify brands, often the anatomy and typography of these logos alluding to the type of business they signify, for example, luxury brands like YSL, Louis Vuitton and Vera Wang, use serifs due to inherent air of luxury that serifs possess. 

The use of monograms has changed throughout history from being used as a signifier of year, power figures and more in Ancient Greece, to a symbol of personal authorship, ownership and royal signification to a fashion trend in Victorian times to show a personas initials and as such, ownership over it, to branding and important occasions as it has been seen today. 

Finished Monogram