Today we discovered more about the life of William Morris, his colleague and soulmate Dante Rossetti and Jane, the muse and the lover of both men. The film gets into details of a complex relationship between three characters and years when Morris, passionate about the arts and crafts, became involved into politics.
In the 1870s he got interested in socialism, an idea flourishing in Europe and promoted by such individuals as Robert Owen, Henri de Sain Simon and later Marx and Engels. Perhaps inspired by John Ruskin and his Utopian thoughts on art and life in general, Morris joined the Social Democratic Federation and was voted an executive. Yet soon it appeared that the federation did not have enough support in the society. During 10 years of his strong involvement in the politics the party was outnumbered by anarchists and in 1890 Morris withdrew.
Although not officially in charge, he did not give up and kept on writing political essays, pro Socialist lectures and one of his most best-known work entitles 'News from Nowhere'. Nevertheless he became disappointed and disillusioned and came back to his primer interest: art and literature.
In 1888 after hearing a lecture by Emery Walker at the Arts and Crafts Society in London Morris started experimenting with typography as a new interest of his. He devoted much of his last years to the labour of illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy. 'The House of the Wolfings' in 1889 and later 'The Roots of the Mountains' were his first manuscripts printed and illuminated.Eventually he designed three typefaces used in his prints. Golden is an Old Style typeface and was based on the type used by Nicolaus Jenson. First book printed at Morris' Kelmscott printing press using Golden was 'The Glittering Plain', published on May 8, 1891. Later he worked on two more typefaces: Troy and Chaucer (smaller version of Troy), based on the black letter type. Troy was so named as it was to be used in the Kelmscott edition of Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, published in 1892 (first book printed in English). Commenting on his typography he said:
It was the essence of my undertaking to produce books which it would be a pleasure to look upon as pieces of printing and arrangement of type. To producing some [books] which would have a definite aim of beauty, while they should be easy to read and not dazzle the eye.”
I think that Morris is one of the most interesting figures in the history of graphic designers and typographers. Not only because he worked on so many fields and produced an extreme amount of materials we know him for today. I think it is very inspiring to see an artist getting involved with the public, as Morris did as a member of a political party. He did not only devote himself to making beautiful objects that would make human life more meaningful and close himself in the circle of arts. He saw the changes happening around him in the society and responded. Living during the Industrial Revolution era among the people trapped in the gap between the past and presence, Morris wanted to act. Even though he was not successful at pursuing his career in the socialist federation, I admire his courage to step down and speak up. I feel that many contemporary designers close themselves in a field and do not feel a need for interacting with a real world. The world that cannot be defined by money, technology and trends. I think that taking Morris' example designers as well as all artists should realize what a difference they can make in other fields. Labeling ourselves as successful designers, painters, animators does not mean an alienation from the issues that the world is struggling with.
The Golden Type
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