Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)

            He was an English illustrator and author during this time period. He was greatly influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, and drew in black ink. In his artwork, he put emphasis on the decadent, grotesque and the erotic. He was a big contributor to the movement with his significant poster styles. Along with his designs, he was also a writer for magazines like The Studio and The Savoy. He was also the co-founder of these said magazines.

 

Albert Bruce Rogers (1889-1957)

     Inspired by William Morris' Kelmscott Press Bruce Rogers became the most important American book designer of early 20th century. An allusive designer known for his work resembling earlier designs and using a strong arts and crafts influence in his work. In 1915 he created the "Centaur" typeface design which is one of the finest fonts that was inspired by Nicholas Jensen. Rogers was honored for his accomplishments in graphic design.





           

Frederic Goudy (1865-1947)

           A freelance designer from Chicago who specialized in lettering and typographic design. Goudy edited two journals "Ars Typographica and Typographica which had major impacts on book design. He is responsible for over 122 typefaces, basing many of them on Venetian and French Renaissance type designs. He had developed the love for type and letter forms at a young age teaching himself typography and printing, he sold his first typeface "Camelot" for $10. His love for work lasted his whole lifetime as he worked all the way up until his death at 82.

Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942)

          An architect, graphic designer, jeweler, and silversmith who made an important contribution in designs to silverware and tableware for the guild of Handicraft, which he founded in 1888. Ashbee was influenced by John Ruskin and William Morris in believing that industrialization was degrading and evil to the operations to handicraft. He preached in his school of handicraft that he wanted to restore the wholesome approach to apprenticeship which was destroyed by machine labor and production. "The Psalter" in 1902 was written in English Vernacular text, using roman numerals for each Psalm, the latin titles are in red capitals, english titles are in black capitals, also woodcut initials and body text and verses are separated with decorative leafs, this resembles incunabula.

Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1863-1942)

    An advocate of John Ruskin's ideas, believing in a unity between the arts and the craftsman. In 1882 he helped create the Century Guild to help produce more work for arts and crafts designs. He was known for his designs in wallpapers, furniture, metal works, and printed books. In this design "peacock" he utilizes similar images throughout the construction of the design to produce the continuing pattern across this unique design.

Ford Maddox-Brown (1821-1893)

           Ford Maddox-Brown was an English painter of historical subjects. He was mostly known for his distinctively graphic version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Work was his most notable painting. During the 1850’s he and William Morris collaborated on multiple art projects. In 1861 he became a founder, investor in a design company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, that belonged to William Morris. For this company he designed a series of stained glass windows and created hand-made furniture. By the 1870’s he established himself as one of London’s top painters.

William Morris (1834-1896)

     He was an important member of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was mostly and best known for the patterns he designed. In particular, his fabrics and wallpapers were most popular. In his artworks, he would apply the values of fine art into commercial design. William Morris was an artist, printer, typographer, designer, bookbinder, craftsman, writer and poet. His belief was that any designer should have all the skills of design. Therefor, he spent a lot of time teaching himself the trades of the art industry. Along with being artistically creative, he also invented the Kelmscott Press. This is a press that published high quality hand bound books.

The Innovator

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

            During this time period, John Ruskin was known for his criticism of art in the arts and crafts movement. Along with being a critic of the arts, he was also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolorist, an important social thinker and a philanthropist. In all of his writings he emphasized the important connections between nature, art and society. He also frequently drew up detailed sketches of nature, including rocks, plants, birds, landscapes and more. He was a huge influence in the later half of the 19^th century, all the way up to WW1. Today, his ideas are seen as having interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft. 

History

         In the later half of the nineteenth century there was a group of artists who rejected the ongoing production of industrialism in civilization. The Industrial Revolution dominated the world as people were finding work in factories and manufacturing industries where the work did not focus so much on craftsmanship but rather hard labor with machine operations. The artists had been set in their ways with only handcrafting their work while incorporating it with art. Many products were influenced by the movement of arts and crafts, from furniture to wallpaper, book covers to tapestry, and from pottery to mosaics. One of the most memorable contributors of this movement was writer poet and artist William Morris (1834-1896). He designed many works and most of his art is still seen today, as he kept his approach natural and genuine to the viewer. Morris admired the medieval period and the art that came from that era, he would try to incorporate into his work in his own way. In the image posted here you can see how Morris utilized nature with design. The plant and vines surround the entire page with its repetitive patterns, and guides the viewer into the maze of the pattern possibly losing them in the process. Its unique and is one of the many patterns Morris made for the arts and crafts period, and is still seen on many products today, more wallpaper and furniture then anything.