Arts & Crafts Design

by William H Varnum, Timothy L Hansen

Overview

Originally published in 1916 when the Arts & Crafts movement was in its heyday, this is a virtual textbook of materials, color, techniques, and designs. Arts & Crafts Design is a practical guide to the creation of high-quality, high-style furnishings through the industrial arts.

"In this relativistic age in which de gustilrie non disputandum est (it is undisputed that each person has their own sense of taste), it is refreshing to look back to the early twentieth century when at least a few people were certain that there are universal rules for good art and also that they had themselves mastered these precepts and could pass them on to a society that loved commonly held values. William H. Varnum was one of those people. He offers here a textbook that will, if followed, allow students to 'directly apply well-recognized principles of design to specific materials and problems.' No situation esthetics here. In fact, he followed these principles in designing the logos representing his tools and ratio system on the cover of his book.

"The publisher of this new edition has added a useful foreword and substitued the title Arts and Crafts Design for the original (1916) Industrial Arts Design, an appropriate modification since the term "industrial" suggests factory production whereas Varnum referred to objects that today we call "Craftsman"—Rookwood pottery, Stickley furniture, Jarvie candlesticks, etc. A delightful touch is that Varnum included pictures of these objects alongside the principles by which he believed they were designed. Varnum's book offers an enlightening, if somewhat technical, insight into thinking about design before World War I. There is no doubt that the Arts and Crafts period during which the principles of simple beauty married so neatly with function can be better understood and appreciated today through Varnum's perceptions."

Robert Winter

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879056995
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	08/01/1995
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.56(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William Harrison Varnum was an Assistant Professor of Drawing and Design at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when he wrote this book in 1916. The text was intended to be used for industrial arts courses in high school, colleges and universities, but has since transcended time and purpose.

Read an Excerpt

This book has been written with the view of presenting design from the standpoint of the industrial arts. An instructor generally experiences difficulty in finding the exact word to use when criticizing a student''s drawing. The student has equal difficulty in understanding the criticism. There is little wonder that he is confused, when the rather ambiguous terms "good-looking," "ugly," "squatty," and "stiff" are used to express qualities that can be expressed only in terms of design.

Table of Contents

Divisions of Industrial Arts Design

The Primary Mass and Its Proportions

Horizontal Major Divisions of the Primary Mass

Vertical Major Divisions of the Primay Mass

Appendages and the Rules Governing Them

Enrichment of the Contours or Outlines of Designs in Wood

Enrichment of the Contours or Outlines of Designs in Clay

Enrichment of the Contours or Outlines of Designs in Base and Precious Metals

Surface Enrichment of Small Primary Masses in Wood

Surface Enrichment of Small Primary Masses in Wood (continued)

Surface Enrichment with Minor Subdivisions of Large Primary Masses in Wood

Surface Enrichment of Clay

Surface Enrichment of Precious Metals. Small Flat Planes

Surface Enrichment of Large Primary Masses in Base and Precious Metals

Color: Hue, Value, and Chroma; Stains

Color and Its Relation to Industrial Arts Design. Large Surfaces of Wood; Wall and Ceiling Areas

Color and Its Relation to Industrial Arts Design. Small Surfaces in Clay and Metal

Complete Summary of Rules

Appendix

Index