- In the middle of the 19th century,
new machines were developed that replaced human labor.
People were moving from an agricultural
to an industrial economy.
For the first time in history,
average people had access to products
previously only accessible to the rich.
Sounds good.
The Industrial Revolution increased production
and provided a wider range of products.
It alleviated issues of hunger and malnutrition
with new transportation options.
But working conditions for the lower classes
were often deplorable
and child labor was rampant.
Cities became centers of pollution,
overcrowding, and disease due to sanitation problems,
and quality was often ignored.
In the graphic arts, traditional typesetters and printers
were replaced by mechanized methods.
Paper making shifted from hand production
toward a mass produced product
that created an acidic paper that yellowed.
Books were printed and bound
not by hand but by machinery.
This reduced costs and gave more people access to books,
but decreased quality, skill,
and any sense of an individual designer.
Another negative impact on design was the change
from typesetting by hand to new printing techniques.
Books and flyers that were printed in large quantities
adhered to a more rigid system
that could be easily reproduced.
The role of a designer was disappearing.
Illustrations, diagrams, or images,
required costly engraving.
This limited their use,
and we see a change from lavish decoration in book design
of the medieval manuscript,
toward a grey sea of text on low quality paper.
Like today, the industrial economy was driven
by consumer supply and demand.
Advertising created demand,
and design responded with the introduction
of the wood type broadside
and lithography poster.
This allowed for a larger type carved in wood.
The goal changed from refining the craft of typography
and creating beauty,
to selling a product as quickly and cheaply as possible.
The other design arts suffered as well.
Ceramics, pottery, glass making,
architecture, and furniture design,
all shared the same issues of demand,
lowering standards in the name of profit.
The goal was not to create something long lasting
with the skill of the designer and manufacturer,
but to make it fast with built in obsolescence.
Why not buy the new curling comb
even though the last one didn't work?
And again, as we see happening today,
part of the design world began to reject
the loss of quality and the handmade
due to mechanization.
They looked for an alternative way of working and making,
hoping to improve the quality of life
and maintain the highest standards.
This was the beginning of The Arts and Crafts Movement.