Principles of Design: Furniture, Pottery & Metalwork by William H. Varnum

Principles of Design: Furniture, Pottery & Metalwork by William H. Varnum

This book was first published in 1916 under the title "Industrial Arts Design" and written by William H. Varnum (1878-1946). We renamed it "Principles of Design," which is a far more apt title.

Varnum lays out a series of step-by-step rules to guide the reader through the process of designing furniture, pottery and metalwork. It begins with function and form, of course. But it then delves into common-sense rules for dividing up a form both horizontally and vertically.

"Principles of Design" was written during the waning years of the American Arts & Crafts movement, so the examples used in the book are gorgeous Craftsman designs and earlier traditional forms. Varnum’s rules apply to all furniture forms, but the austerity of the Arts & Crafts pieces in the book help make the use of his rules easy to comprehend and digest.

Published by Lost Arts Press

The original printing of this book was gorgeous, so we sought to equal or exceed its specifications. The book is 7" x 9-5/8" and printed on #80 matte coated paper. Because some of the details in the photos are dark, we chose a press that could do stochastic printing, to give sharper details. The book's signatures are sewn together, backed with fiber tape and wrapped with heavy boards. The covers are wrapped in cotton cloth and printed in gold foil.

Varnum, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, was the author of two important design books, plus some other works on setting up a curriculum for shop teachers.