Visiting the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow today has officially introduced me to William Morris, the artist, architect, calligrapher, artisan, poet, political theorist, activist, philosopher and designer. The first thing a visitor notices, other than the fact that you enter and exit the gallery from the gift shop, is William Morris’s quotes on the walls. Most quotes are by him, while a few are of him and of his work. One of the quotes read:
“I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few”
This is a man of principles to the core. I do not claim that all his principles were agreeable with my own. For example, “If a chap can’t compose an epic poem while he’s weaving a tapestry, he had better shut up, he’ll never do any good at all.” What if this chap is not into tapestry? What if tapestry is no longer the mark of physical artisanal work? I find glorifying the virtues of multitasking in this principle to be acutely subjective. I do not believe in the ‘great benefits’ of multitasking – and no, I’m not saying that because I’m a man. Morris is apparently an advocate for multitasking and he is a fellow-man. Although principles are generally subjective in nature, their applications should be generic and adaptive to different situations. Another example, was his little care (to put it mildly) for the past. He would rather burn the interiors of a house and start from scratch than working with the existing design and improving it. If we apply his principle today, William Morris’s prints would not be known and sold as the Liberty Prints.
Having said that, Morris’s design principles speak volumes about quality, beauty, and passion. For example, on one wall a quote reads: “The books that I would like to print are the books I love to read and keep.” I found certain similarities between Mr. Morris and me. We both passionately care for beauty, craftsmanship, design, art, and critical thinking. He spoke his mind all the time. Anyone who knows me can confirm that I’m never shy of sharing my thoughts. The fact that I purchased a couple of Liberty print shirts before knowing that they were Morris’s patterns tells you that we have a similar taste as well. One last similarity I discovered is our multi-faceted interest in exploring different subjects in life from art and patterns to philosophy and everything in between. Once Morris finds an area of interest, he would spend his months and years to master it. Once he achieves that, he moves on to the next quest. I don’t claim to be a master in my areas of interest, but I can’t speak for others (smile, I know I am).
What William Morris did for Design is to put human qualities in the centre of the design process. Although qualities such as beauty, elegance, serenity, and passion, may not have been pursued with the client in mind all the time for Morris, but he understood more than many others that design is for humans and what we produce should reflect that one way or another.
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