# Arts & Crafts Movement

> A British-led reform movement that answered industrial shoddiness with honest handcraft, medieval models and the ideal of joy in labour. In graphic design it is embodied by William Morris's Kelmscott Press: dark Jenson-derived and gothic types, handmade paper, and wood-engraved borders and initials dense with stylised foliage, treating the book as one integrated, hand-made object.

- Period: 1860–1920
- Where: Western Europe, North America
- Origin: London and provincial England; spread to the United States (Roycroft, East Aurora, New York)
- Branch: Craft & organic
- Also known as: Arts and Crafts, Private Press Movement, Kelmscott style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/arts-and-crafts/

## How it works

- Design the double-page spread as the unit, with a dark, compact text block, narrow inner margins and generous outer and foot margins.
- Set text in a heavy roman or gothic modelled on fifteenth-century types, with tight word spacing so the page reads as an even black texture.
- Surround text and pictures with wood-engraved borders and large decorated initials of interlacing, stylised foliage.
- Flatten plants into symmetrical, rhythmically repeating patterns rather than naturalistic studies.
- Print by hand in black with red rubrication on handmade paper or vellum, and let the impression show.
- Unify type, ornament, illustration and binding as one designed whole made by a single workshop.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Classical text block](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/classical-text-block/) (characteristic)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [All-over field](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-over-field/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Humanist & Garalde serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/humanist-and-garalde-serif/) (defining)
- [Blackletter](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/blackletter/) (characteristic)
- [Tight setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/tight-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (defining)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (defining)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (defining)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (defining)
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (characteristic)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (characteristic)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (characteristic)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)

Avoids: Didone, Ornamented display, Eclectic mixing, Halftone & Ben-Day dots, Straight photography, Ornament-free, Gloss & highlights

Palette: #efe6d2, #1c1a17, #a33224, #2e4a6a, #5f7140, #c39a4a

Typefaces: Golden Type (William Morris, 1890), Troy and Chaucer (William Morris, 1892), Doves Type (T. J. Cobden-Sanderson & Emery Walker, 1900), Edward Johnston's foundational broad-pen hand

Known for: William Morris & the Kelmscott Press (1891–1898); The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Kelmscott Chaucer, 1896), illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones; Walter Crane; Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo & The Century Guild Hobby Horse (from 1884); Doves Press (T. J. Cobden-Sanderson & Emery Walker, 1900–1916); Ashendene Press (C. H. St John Hornby); Elbert Hubbard's Roycrofters (East Aurora, New York)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Renaissance Book Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/renaissance-book.md) (c. 1460–1600)
- Influenced by: [Victorian Letterpress & Wood Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/victorian-letterpress.md) (1810–1900)
- Influenced by: [Gothic Blackletter & Fraktur Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/blackletter-fraktur.md) (c. 1180–present)
- Led to: [Celtic Revival Illumination & Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/celtic-revival.md) (1861–1951)
- Led to: [Norwegian and Finnish National Romantic Graphics (Munthe & Karelianism)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nordic-national-romanticism.md) (1880–1922)
- Led to: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Led to: [Glasgow Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/glasgow-style.md) (1890–1914)
- Led to: [German Book Art Movement (Buchkunstbewegung)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/buchkunstbewegung.md) (1895–1933)
- Led to: [Santiniketan & Bengal School Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/santiniketan-graphics.md) (1905–1954)
- Led to: [London Transport Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/london-transport-design.md) (1908–1966)
- Alike in its design choices: [Emblem Book (Motto, Picture & Epigram)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/emblem-book.md) (1531–1724), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Nieuwe Kunst (Dutch Art Nouveau)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nieuwe-kunst.md) (1892–1914), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Peruvian Indigenista Graphics (Amauta and Neo-Peruvian Design)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/peruvian-indigenista-graphics.md) (1923–1945), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Rorke's Drift Linocut](https://stylogeny.com/styles/rorkes-drift-print.md) (1962–1982), 61% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mir iskusstva Book Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mir-iskusstva.md) (1898–1927), 56% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mithila (Madhubani) Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mithila-painting.md) (c. 1350–present), 56% alike

## Real works

- [The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer Now Newly Imprinted (the Kelmscott Chaucer), opening spread](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Morris_-_The_Works_of_Geoffrey_Chaucer_(The_Kelmscott_Chaucer)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg): William Morris, Kelmscott Press (design and type); Edward Burne-Jones (illustration), 1896, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University (via Google Arts & Culture and Wikimedia Commons)
- [The Baby's Bouquet: A Fresh Bunch of Old Rhymes and Tunes (frontispiece and title page)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/366261): Walter Crane; engraved and printed by Edmund Evans; published by Frederick Warne & Co., 1878, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [The Roycroft Books: A Catalog and Some Comment Concerning the Shop and Workers at East Aurora, N.Y. (title page)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/728425): The Roycrofters (Elbert Hubbard), East Aurora, New York, 1900, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (image via Wikimedia Commons)
- [The Nature of Gothic: A Chapter of The Stones of Venice (first text page)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kelmscott_Press_-_The_Nature_of_Gothic_by_John_Ruskin_(first_page).jpg): John Ruskin (author); William Morris, Kelmscott Press (design, Golden type, border and initial), 1892, Wikimedia Commons (2005 photograph of a copy in the Springfield, Massachusetts library system; no catalogue record)

## Sources

- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- William S. Peterson, The Kelmscott Press: A History of William Morris's Typographical Adventure (1991)
- Victoria and Albert Museum, 'The Arts and Crafts movement' (vam.ac.uk)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Arts & Crafts Movement”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/arts-and-crafts/