There's something about patterns in architecture that really intrigue me. I find it kind of odd because I rarely use a lot of pattern in my work, or even in my home. And pattern is often something I'm not a big fan of in design (of course, that's such a general statement that I could easily prove myself wrong). Rarely do patterns in nature fascinate me as much, just in architecture.... This is kind of one of those posts that really doesn't have a point I guess, just sharing an observation. The bottom pic above is from yesterday outside the barber shop I go to - the others are from Paris, Oklahoma City, and LAX. Maybe it's just how they pop up when you least expect it - one of life's little man made surprises that you could easily pass by without noticing - that I get some joy out of.
1 comment:
I think you're on to something here. I believe we will probably be seeing patterns become an obvious trend in contemporary graphic design soon. A new arts magazine called Lemon recently arrived at select newsstands. The cover has a pattern varnish; by no means your typical magazine design. It's a very nice touch.
House Industries is also leaning toward the world of pattern more these days. They have long offered signature patterns as part of their typeface packages. They now are promoting their updated Artist Proof series. These are hand-done patterns a la Ray Eames.
I appreciate the joy and humor infused in the work of the boys of House. They still seem to believe that graphic design can be fun. What a concept.
I suppose it should be noted that patterns have also been a pursuit of Rudy Vanderlans' legendary type foundry Emigre. They once sold pajamas with typographic patterns.
When I taught at Otis I discussed the importance of pattern recognition in design. Patterns can define an environmental plane. Patterns can also be used to establish the norm, that allows you to break from it and create areas of focus or even surprise.
I think I'll go create some patterns now...
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