The Arts & Crafts Movement was an international design movement that reacted against mass production, both the low quality of design and the demeaning conditions under which products were produced. The movement began in England in the late 1800s, and spread th the United States in the early decades of the 20th Century.
The Arts & Crafts Movement typically tried to rejoin art and industry together, however the economies of scale worked against their goal of bringing good design to the people. In the graphics arts field, small private presses, forming under a model created by William Morris, reawakened fine printing and revivals of classic typefaces. They were fluid and exotic.
The Arts & Crafts movement was also a socialist movement, which embraced architects, designers, artists, writers and any craft workers and all in between. Followers of the Arts & Crafts Movement, believed that industrialization isolated labor and created a 'dehumanizing' system between the designer and the manufacturer so they vowed to destroy the commercial system. The Movement was all about attention to design itself and a return to craftsmanship, hence the name Arts & Crafts movement.
The Movements Top Figure was William Morris. Morris and friends showed a way back of art to craft in the man-made environment. They wanted truth in the use and nature of materials and they wanted individual expression by designers. William Morris's small printing company, Kelmcott Press, produced 53 books of superb quality and refinement. Morris inspired book and type designers to work with private presses who were more receptive to experimentation.
William Morris:
The Arts & Crafts Movement did not promote a particular style, but the common nature and simplicity form. Infact, architecture, pottery, jewelry, patterns, books, furniture and stained glass from the 1860s to 1910 reflect this. An important development in this movement was the formation of workshops and guilds that trained artists in many crafts - from pottery to furniture.
Arts & Crafts Designers
Frederic Goudy(1865-1947)
Goudy was an American typographer and also a printer who designed over 100 typefaces that are considered outstanding for their lasting strength and beauty.
Walter Crane
Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific children's book creator of his generation.
Crane's work featured some of the more colourful and detailed beginnings of the child-in-the-garden motifs that would characterize many nursery rhymes and children's stories for decades to come.
He was part of the Arts & Crafts Movement and produced an array of paintings, illustrations, ceramic tiles and other decorative arts.
'The influence of William Morris and the Kelmscott Press upon graphic design, particularly book design, was evidenced not just in the direct stylistic imitation of the Kelmscott borders, initials, and typestyles; Morris’s concept of the well-made book, his beautiful typeface designs based on earlier models, and his sense of design unity, with the smallest detail relating to the total concept, inspired a whole new generation of book designers.'
'The long-range effect of Morris was a significant upgrading of book design and typography throughout the world. In Germany, this influence inspired a renaissance of arts-andcrafts activities, wonderful new typefaces, and a significant improvement in book design.'
'In the United States, the American Type Founders Company (ATF) established an extensive typographic research library and played an important role in reviving past designs. Its head of typeface development, Morris F. Benton (1872– 1948), designed important revivals of Bodoni and Garamond.'
All three last paragraphs quoted from Megg's History of Graphic Design
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