ARGD Project .01

Quote from Morris: "have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

Here's a summary of the info that i've accumulated so far.

List of words I have come up with to describe William Morris's view approach to art:
simplicity
craftsmanship
design
pattern
individual
handmade
flat
linear
nature
lettering
pure
Rennaissance
decorative
flowing
curvilinear
observation

When reading about Morris's Kelmscott Press, I discovered this quote from him: "Let's make a new font of type." This quote, stated at the beginning of the Press, drew me in because I enjoy creating new fonts, so for a possible project idea, I will create new letters. Not sure yet what letters i would choose to appropriately make a "Homage to William Morris."
Morris worked for artistic integration of word and plane, also introducing "entrelac" initials, which begin sections of text.
Also, Morris devolped many borders and frames for text, however, the borders were not necessarily equal on all sides. He focused on the "position" of the text on the page, hence, the non-symmetrical borders.
Morris spoke out against division of labor practices that were currently taking place, especially with the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution. He encouraged "free craftsmen" to display their individuality by hand-crafting their products rather than sim[ply working on an assembly line.
Morris's textiles consisted of many wallpapers, draperies, and fabrics. Patterns and curvilinear vine-like shapes dominated a lot of his work.
Morris also stated the true gothic he sought to revive was "free, progressive, hopeful, and full of human sentiment and humor." He argued that still, imitaion of the past was "meaningless...unfair to the old and stupid for the present." Therefore, he sided with the Arts and Crafts movement in its promotion of the individual artist style.

The Arts and Crafts movement: (some characteristics)

-preserving and emphasizing natural qualities of the materials used to make objects

simple forms 

nature motifs

domestic traditions

against the Victorian Era

Another possible idea for my project:
create a weaving pattern (possibly with letters integrated), play with positive and negative space (maybe create an image in the negative space, like a letter or silhouette of something)

(just a few images i found via the internet...the rest of the images are on my flash drive...i couldn't figure out how to upload the file)

idea: work with the paradox that Morris was against machines however he used machines to mass produce his textiles. 

fine balance between mass production and division of labor on an assembly line. 

similar to the hypothetical equation: industrial revolution - division of labor = mass produced craft.

integration of the letters of "craft" and "machine"   

make sure "craft" is more prominent than "machine" because Morris emphasized the work of an individual craftsman over the widespread production of goods (as in the Industrial Revolution)

some interweaving ideas with text:

razangraphics_Typography_by_razangraphics.jpg

typo2.jpg