Christopher Dresser studied and lectured at the government school of design .
at Somerset House, London, where he formed his endevouring motto searching for "Truth, Beauty, Power". It was at the school of design where he was influenced by designers and theorists, William Dyce, Henry Cole, Owen Jones and Matthew Digby Wyatt. He shared many of the same views of design as them but Dresser necessitated for a drastic change from using past ideas and designs and set out to recast them into a ground breaking modern style. .
William Morris's best known outputs are his wallpapers, comprising of complicated and intricate designs using plants, flowers and birds. Dresser was different in that he worked mostly with ceramics, metals and glass, however he did design many wallpapers, also including plants, but his designs were more stylised and simplified. He also studied as as a botanist before branching out to art and design so had an understanding of the plants he was incorporating in his designs. This in turn gave his designs an added sense of realism, even though they were so heavily stylised. You can see this in the attached pictures, overleaf. Morris's "The Honey Suckle" designed originally as a fabric but then used as wallpaper demonstrates the complexity of his designs perfectly, whereas Dresser's wallpaper in citrine and gold, in complete contradiction, shows perhaps one of his most geometrically sound and contemporary designs. .
William Morris successfully created a taste with the buying British middle classes for quality manufacture over factory machined objects. This method provided a model for other, following manufacturers. These manufacturers then combined the workshop and master craftsman approaches to produce handmade objects on a mass scale, to compete with Dresser and his fellow industrial counterparts. Objects of both beauty and utility resulted from initialising practices of fine craftsmanship, related to Morris's strong socialist beliefs.