The history of illustrated is hard to define as there are so many different types of illustrated products all with their own unique history. I'm going to look at a few key elements that have brought illustrated products to what they are today.





A major part of illustrated products is printing as most designs are printed in one way or another so to look at the history of printing tells us about the origins of illustrated products.
Small scale printed illustrations on paper and fabric would have been around but wouldn't have picked up until the printing press was invented by Gutenberg in the 1400s. Even then it wouldn't have been very accessible as batches were limited making it expensive. The first form of mass printing was in the 1800s where the rotary press was invented particularly as they started to use paper rolls. This made the printing process far faster and therefore cheaper. This was followed by a similar process of offset printing which allowed






Greeting cards are huge section of illustrated products and have continued to be
popular over the years. The first appearance of greeting cards dates back to
ancient China where messages of goodwill were exchanged for Chinese New Year.
However, greeting cards as we know them today started appearing and being sold
in the 1400s where Europeans handmade cards but it wasn't until the 1800s until
they gained popularity. This is because in the 1400s mass printing was introduced,
making cards more affordable, and the postage stamp was brought in so they no
longer needed to be hand-delivered. In 1843 the first known Christmas card was
made and sold in London by Sir Henry Cole illustrated by John Calcott Horsley.
With printing advancements over the years, cards have become better quality and more affordable making them accessible to the masses. In 2020 the market value for greeting cards was estimated £161.8 million. Over recent years the market value for greeting cards has declined.