- The Kelmscott Press was the last great enterprise
in William Morris's life.
It was also one of his most personal.
He was committed to the aesthetics of the books
and chose the content based on his beliefs.
The typography was as important as the paper,
binding, and ink.
As he did with other media, when he didn't find fonts
that he wanted, Morris designed his own.
This spawned a revival in typeface design
in England and in the United States.
Morris designed three Kelmscott Press fonts.
The Golden legend used the press's first type
appropriately named Golden.
He based the design on the 15th Century typeface
drawn by Venetian printer, Nicolas Jenson.
The serifs are exaggerated to emphasize the handmade
quality of calligraphy.
Morris then created a black letter typeface
emulating Medieval manuscripts,
Troy, and a smaller version, Chaucer.
These typefaces are based on
15th Century Germanic letterforms.
They take the concepts of hand calligraphy further
by imitating the action of a quill pen.
These reinforce the arts and crafts romantic notion
of Medieval Europe and individual printers
creating type and printing small editions.
In the United States, Frederic Goudy was the most
prolific type designer of his time.
He started his career later in life at 40
but didn't stop for the next 36 years.
He was inspired by Morris and looked to
Medieval and Renaissance letterforms.
From these, he and his wife, Bertha,
designed and composed a remarkable collection
of over 100 typefaces including Goudy Old Style,
Gordy Ornate Initial Caps,
Copperplate Gothic, and Kennerly.
Charles Robert Ashbee founded the Essex House Press
after Morris died.
He is mostly remembered as a jewelry designer
but created two revolutionary typefaces,
notably Endeavour.
This is a typeface that is more exotic than any
of Morris and Goudy's fonts.
The letterforms are rarely unified.
Ashbee designed Endeavour with different strokes
for each letterform.
This created individual unique forms imitating
a hand drawn typeface.
American, William Joseph "Dard" Hunter,
has been called an American phenomenon
because of his artistry and craftsmanship in all media.
While attending Ohio State University,
he met Elbert Hubbard of Roycroft Furniture.
He visited Roycroft in 1904 and stayed until 1910.
During that time, he designed all of Roycroft's books
and promotional materials.
He drew his own typefaces and, later in life,
made his own paper for his own small press.
His typeface design is more expressive than Morris's.
It is connected more to natural forms
like trees and branches than to Medieval letters.
Many of the typefaces we see today, redrawn
in the arts and crafts style, are inspired by Hunter's work.
Like its impact in bookmaking, the arts and crafts
movement revitalized the art of typography.
The commitment of these artists
to a hand drawn and refined letterform
saved the craft from becoming a mass produced
industrial material.
The contemporary hand drawn and digital font
design movements, draw their inspiration
and direct lineage from the arts and crafts movement.
The next time you see a beautifully hand drawn menu
on a blackboard at a coffee shop,
you can thank Morris, Ashbee, Goudy, and Hunter.