Magazines: Craft periodicals with a focus on surface design treatment.
By Beth Goodrich
August 6, 2025
This issue’s theme of adorn invites us to explore an additional aspect of objects: surface design. Each major craft medium has a number of periodicals devoted to its particular forms and materials. Here are several that pay particular attention to surface design treatment.
The Surface Design Association, rooted in the fiber arts, defines surface design on its website as “the coloring, patterning, and structuring of fiber and fabric.” Its quarterly publication, Surface Design Journal, encompasses all aspects of fiber art and design, including papermaking, dyeing, sculpture, stitching, knitting, weaving, embellishing, and collage. The British publication Selvedge explores and celebrates the skill of international makers and the significance of textiles in our daily lives. Fiber Art Now covers both two-dimensional and three-dimensional fiber arts, including wall and floor coverings, basketry, and sculpture.
Glass Art covers all aspects of hot, warm, and cold glass, including surface treatments such as etching, painting, engraving, fusing, and stained glass. In Chip Chats, the publication of the National Wood Carvers Association, readers can find patterns and inspiration for figural carving, pierced relief, woodcut print blocks, and more. Metalsmith covers cutting-edge adornment in contemporary jewelry, design, and fashion.
Ceramic Arts Network offers two publications for ceramists: Ceramics Monthly addresses a broad range of topics, from glaze recipes to current happenings in museums and galleries, while Pottery Making Illustrated features practical tips and techniques to apply in the studio.
Most fitting for this issue’s theme is Ornament magazine, which is devoted to the art of personal adornment. Straddling wearable fiber arts and jewelry, the publication covers the historical roots, aesthetics, and materials of adornment, as well as present and historical technical processes. Sadly, Ornament may soon cease publishing. A recent letter from editors Patrick Benesh-Liu and Robert Liu announced their commitment to publish through the final issue of 2025, with a wait-and-see approach to follow as they assess whether to continue the publication. The cessation of Ornament magazine would be a significant loss to the field of craft and craft publishing.
Beth Goodrich is the archivist for the American Craft Council. The ACC Archives hold historical documentation of ACC dating back to 1939, as well as the early history of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts/American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design) from 1956 to 1990. Many materials from the archives are available online at digital.craftcouncil.org. Questions about the archives? Contact Beth Goodrich at [email protected].
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American Craft Editors
