- It would be simpler if I stated that one style
of design displaced the previous style, and everything
in design history was nice and sequential.
But movements and styles tend to overlap,
or branch into other areas and ideas.
This is the case with Art Nouveau
and the Arts and Crafts movement.
They share similar principles, and occurred in
the same approximate time, but have different results.
William Morris is the acknowledged
leader of the arts and crafts movement.
Like the artists who worked in the art nouveau genre,
Morris also rejected the Industrial Revolution's
bad quality and lack of skilled workmanship.
His book design embraced the idea of the artist and worker
coming together to make a unique object of beauty.
The books of the Arts and Crafts movement were often
printed on small presses with limited quantities.
The emphasis was on quality, not quantity.
Every part of the book, from the typeface,
pattern, paper, binding, and materials, was refined.
This reflected the importance of craft over mass production.
Looking back toward an imagined romantic period,
the work had intricate, hand-drawn patterns
based on natural forms, and the subject matters
were sentimentalized and idealized,
often focusing on the agrarian age, with topics
such as Chaucer, knights, and medieval poetry.
Unlike Art Nouveau, the designers working
with an Arts and Crafts approach filled
the negative space with pattern and decoration.
This relates more to illuminated manuscripts,
before the invention of the printing press,
than to Japanese woodblock art.
The Arts and Crafts movement launched
a renaissance of book design.
The quality and manufacturing of books was
in a dismal state, as the publishing industry
looked to cheaper ways to manufacture.
This renewed appreciation for the book arts
spread from Europe to the United States,
sparking an interest in small presses and limited editions.
Architects such as Greene and Greene
and Frank Lloyd Wright adopted many of its ideas
and transformed them into building concepts.
Fine handmade woodwork, artist-created stained glass,
and a connection to natural elements
are all part of an Arts and Crafts building.
One of the most lasting effects
of the Arts and Crafts movement,
is the commitment of design to quality.
The movement prevented a slow slide into fast,
cheap, and low quality as accepted fact.
Today, good designers and printers strive to create
the highest quality product, obsessing over every detail.