Before Class, Chapter 10: The Arts and Crafts Movement and Its Heritage

The arts and crafts movement was a time where typography was revitalized. Victorian typefaces were fading away in the later 1800's as typefaces such as Caslon, Baskerville, and Bodoni were being offered for keyboard composition in the beginning of the twentieth century. Revivals of earlier typefaces, outstanding book design, and typography was moving forward during this time period. The arts and crafts movement is much more than just visual appearances. Materials, function, and social value inspired twentieth century designers. One very important person that every designer looked up to and idolized during the arts and crafts movement was William Morris.

William Morris, as I would say, was the man of the arts and crafts movement. He emerged design attitudes that gave a positive outlook in the future of design. William Morris contributed a lot to The Kelmscott Press. The Kelmscott Press became an art form because it contained things such as handcut woodblocks, hand-printing, hand-made paper, and initials and borders. Morris in fact designed 644 of the handcut woodblocks for The Kemscott Press himself! After four years in the making of The Kelmscott Press, Morris produced fourteen large borders and eighteen smaller frames that were surrounded by the illustrations Morris cut. He also designed more than two hundred initial letters and words that were used in the Kelmscott Chaucer. William Morris influenced designers all over the world, even after his death. His typeface designs, design unity, and his small details relating to concepts influenced many future book designers as well. Handicraft inspired fine book design that carried throughout the twentieth century and later transformed into commercial printing. All in all, the arts and crafts movement produced new typefaces, a renaissance of arts-and-crafts activities, and a huge improvement in book design.

One thing I learned from the reading and found interesting is The Hobby Horse. The Hobby Horse doesn't only look interesting but its layout, illustrations, and type shows an excellent example of the growing arts and crafts movement. The margins were larger, the line spacing was wider, and ornamented capitals make this piece a visually attractive one.

Another thing that I found interesting while reading was how the Netherlands haven't produced a single typeface in over a century until De Roos (from Netherlands) made the Hollandsche Mediaeval typeface which later became one of the most popular typefaces available.