Founded by William Morris.
Excerpt from "Modern Typography" (Kinross 1992, 2004) :
"The first and most fundamental was that text should be set with close word spacing…"
"Morris's ideal of a black page, achieved through thickened letterforms, very black ink, and a heavy impression…"
"The second idea was of the 'unity of the book'. The essential unit was a double-page spread: facing pages had to balance and any ornament or illustration had to harmonize with the type. Thus, to take the example so often cited in this connection, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphilli (1499) is said to succeed because its woodcuts are matched in colour to the areas of type against which they are balanced: a view that leads easily to regarding words and images as no more than areas of visual texture"
This kind of reminds me of what Gen talks about when she gives us her 'Astroturf' analogy, which is always in the forefront of my mind now when designing a layout. The book I'm reading, "Modern Typography," although written specifically about the recorded history of type, does foray [inevitably] into the design of 'products' of which type is used in. It's a great essay; I recommend it.
