Quote of the Week: Edward Johnston

Ambiguity is one of the greatest faults in a craft.  It comes often from vague ambitions.  One may be inspired by good ambitions, but the immediate concern of the craftsman is to know what he is capable of doing at the present, and to do it.

Let the meaning of your work be obvious unless it is designed purely for your own amusement.  A good craftsman seeks out the commonplace and tries to master it, knowing that "originality" comes of necessity, and not of searching.

Edward Johnston, scribe

Writing & Illuminating & Lettering, 1906 (italics in original)

Johnston was speaking of the art and craft of calligraphy, but this principle could apply to many other endeavors.