Arts and crafts

The English Arts and Crafts movement emerged under the leadership of William Morris in the second half of the nineteenth century and blossomed in the 1980s. The movement came in response to the throwaway culture and low-quality design that emerged from the industrialization and automation of production processes. Instead, aesthetic and durable objects were advocated. Arts-and-crafts has a democratizing approach: the aim is to combine applied and visual arts, in which all art forms may be used. Art must be accessible to the masses and utensils must be well designed.

In terms of products, many designers focused on interiors, utensils and graphics. Artists and designers must fulfill a social role and must unite technology and craft. Despite the noble approach of Arts-and-crafts, objects remained beyond the reach of the intended target group of workers because of their price.

Arts-and-crafts can be recognized by shapes based on nature, such as repeating geometric or floral patterns. William Morris, among other things, looked at motifs from medieval books and reintroduced them as patterns, on objects and in books.