Who was Albert Bruce Rogers?
After reading the overviews about the various designers the “A book-design renaissance” section of Chapter 10, I found that the designer whom I was most interested in was Albert Bruce Rogers and his aptitude for being one of the greatest book designers of the twentieth century. As we learned from the reading, Rogers tried his hand at a variety of skill-sets. He started off being a newspaper illustrator, to a landscape painter, to a Kansas railroad worker, and book illustrator before he finally settled down and showed a great interest in the “total design of books” (186). Because Rogers was attuned to the strong Arts and Crafts Movement influence which was a response to the Industrial Revolution, Rogers recognized the importance and value in the idea of a rekindled connection between the designer and his or her involvement in a production. Rogers was able to be so successful in “becoming very influential and setting the standard for the twentieth century book” because of his awareness of this new movement (187). The book also describes how Rogers was an “allusive designer” who recalled earlier designs and was able to adapt previous styles to more modern ones.
Source: Meggs, Phillip B. and Purvis, Alston W. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design 4th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006
What is a modern example of the Arts and Crafts Movement?
It was this portion of the text which reminded me of something I learned last semester in a Design class about how books are now being transformed into what are called “Altered Books”. Through these Altered Books, we can assume that a newer, yet smaller movement is taking place similar to that of the Arts and Crafts Movement. When looking at these many outstanding examples of Altered Books, one might say that there is evidence that “Design and a return to handicraft [is] advocated, and the ‘cheap and nasty’ mass-produced goods [are] abhorred” (167). After reading about the Arts and Crafts movement, I now view these altered book projects as projects in which artists are taking the ‘mass-produced’ objects of everyday life and transforming or reinventing them to demonstrate a new level of craftsmanship. On the other hand, one might simply choose to see these altered book projects as impressive pieces of art with no connection to any movement whatsoever. In any case, I felt like I needed to share these artistic treasures to those who have not seen or heard about them yet. Do you think this could be a start of a new movement implying the return to handicraft or just a new way to make outstanding pieces of art?
Link: A blog noting an artist and altered books
After reading the overviews about the various designers the “A book-design renaissance” section of Chapter 10, I found that the designer whom I was most interested in was Albert Bruce Rogers and his aptitude for being one of the greatest book designers of the twentieth century. As we learned from the reading, Rogers tried his hand at a variety of skill-sets. He started off being a newspaper illustrator, to a landscape painter, to a Kansas railroad worker, and book illustrator before he finally settled down and showed a great interest in the “total design of books” (186). Because Rogers was attuned to the strong Arts and Crafts Movement influence which was a response to the Industrial Revolution, Rogers recognized the importance and value in the idea of a rekindled connection between the designer and his or her involvement in a production. Rogers was able to be so successful in “becoming very influential and setting the standard for the twentieth century book” because of his awareness of this new movement (187). The book also describes how Rogers was an “allusive designer” who recalled earlier designs and was able to adapt previous styles to more modern ones.
Source: Meggs, Phillip B. and Purvis, Alston W. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design 4th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006
What is a modern example of the Arts and Crafts Movement?
It was this portion of the text which reminded me of something I learned last semester in a Design class about how books are now being transformed into what are called “Altered Books”. Through these Altered Books, we can assume that a newer, yet smaller movement is taking place similar to that of the Arts and Crafts Movement. When looking at these many outstanding examples of Altered Books, one might say that there is evidence that “Design and a return to handicraft [is] advocated, and the ‘cheap and nasty’ mass-produced goods [are] abhorred” (167). After reading about the Arts and Crafts movement, I now view these altered book projects as projects in which artists are taking the ‘mass-produced’ objects of everyday life and transforming or reinventing them to demonstrate a new level of craftsmanship. On the other hand, one might simply choose to see these altered book projects as impressive pieces of art with no connection to any movement whatsoever. In any case, I felt like I needed to share these artistic treasures to those who have not seen or heard about them yet. Do you think this could be a start of a new movement implying the return to handicraft or just a new way to make outstanding pieces of art?
Link: A blog noting an artist and altered books
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