RD Think Tank: Victorian era, Arts & Crafts Movement and the Small Press Movement

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One of my favorite quotes about the Victorian Era is listed under figure 9-47 on page 161. It reads, “…This design demonstrates the eclectic confusion of the Victorian era. Medieval letterforms, baroque plant designs, and Celtic interlaces are combined into a dense symmetrical design.” (Megs, 2012). This is almost a perfect description as to how I feel when asked to compare and contrast the Victorian era and the Arts & Crafts movement. I get it but I’m still somewhat confused.

During the Industrial Revolution (IR) the invention of the “automated” printing press came about which made printing books and newspapers much easier. In turn the volume of material the newspaper could cover increased and the ability of the every-day person to own books was now a reality. I see the early part of this revolution as looking somewhat sterile, very plain and not ornate at all. As the movement progressed and advancements were made with the printing press and within the IR we see the development of circus posters with very ornate serifs, very cluttered with text aligned on the vertical plane opposed to the more traditional horizontal plane. In addition, type foundries developed fonts like “Arboret” (see on page 175 in our book) and “Glyptic Shaded”, which are so ornate that they can be difficult to read. Couple this with all the imagery typically associated with type in the era you’ve got yourself one very confused, very busy piece containing information you have to find on it.

The problem that many people had with the IR was how impersonal it was. What a wonderful thing it was to have all of these machines to build, to do, and to produce. Most of the people operating these machines, in whatever industry it was they were working in, were seriously underpaid and living in squalor. It was their version of a McDonalds society and many people didn’t like the loss of human touch. Enter the Arts & Crafts movement and resurgence in quality and craftsmanship. The Arts & Crafts (A&C) movement was about providing quality hand made products to the ‘every-day man’. Ironically the time it took to make most things during the A&C movement made it impossible to sell the items at an affordable price and make a profit.

The IR saw the development of the printing press and advancements in the way that the press worked and the capabilities of the press. Fonts became very ornate and difficult to read and books were produced en mass; where the A&C movement revisits more simple and elegant serif fonts, opposed to the very ornate, and very organic and organized designs to compliment the text within books.

And the best I can figure from the recesses of my brain is that the small press movement is a rebirth of the letterpress style of printing in conjunction with modern day graphic design standards. It is the modern day techno weenie’s detachment from their Mac and the desire to get back into a pressroom and get their hands on various fonts, literally. The work that is being produced also happens to be really cool!

***I’ve racked my brain, Google images, Artstor, our book and the World Wide Web. I get designers eye when doing all of these things. That is to say I go cross eyed when looking at the progression of design and the incredible pieces of work to come out of both of these eras. I did my best to intellectually gather my thoughts…