Typography and Design in the Post Industrial Revolution

In the Victorian Era, design was ruled by cheap commercial need to mass produce and sell as much as possible. There was little sense of design. New types emerged from the frenzy of different illustrators creating text in their images. Chromolithography was used extensively until it was replaced by lithography. Many design aspects were forgotten and sacrificed to commercial consumerism. Book Design and many other product designs were horrible.

These are some of the things that developed in the industrial revolution:

* metal parts were used for type
* machines powered by steam
* increased efficiency with plates and lyleners
* photo-mechanized processes
* color lithography
* machine based type settings

William Morris was one of the mos important people to the process of revolutionizing type and design during the arts and crafts movement. His goal was to revive importance of the design and craft in mass produced objects. He revived the art of book design and almost single-handedly revolutionized attention to typography. His influence was wide-spread and effects modern design.

His philosophy: the shoddiness of mass-produced craft and design was a "moral failure". His Guild considered the "cheap and nasty" a cultural weakness.