Pattern Pulp

Twitter Influencer: Louise Robinson




As a child, Louise Robinson never quite fancied herself a human. In fact, she liked to think of herself as a great sycamore tree. Though dissuaded eventually from this thought, her work as an artist is very much rooted in nature. The world around her, be it secret wonderlands, dreams or fantasy-scapes are truly intriguing. Likewise, many of her art reveals characters with doll-like features inhabiting whimsical plains where things aren’t always as bright and shiny as their fairy-tale counterparts.

It’s clear that Louise’s imagination and internal life runs deep and her artwork represents gorgeous manifestations of those inner worlds. Her observations of daily happenings along with her creative output makes her twitter feed truly special. Louise shows that her real-world perspective, while dreamy, is extremely clear-headed and keenly interested in the everything around her.

Book Review: Over and Over




We’re great admirers of Mike Perry and his book, Over and Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns. In it, he presents a collection groundbreaking work curated from 55 of today’s most talented designers who create patterns by hand and use them in inventive and innovative ways.

While the computer has lent a certain degree of ease to designing in repetition, it is the hand drawn counterparts that resonate with complexity, organic sensibility and a meaning of what makes a pattern a pattern. The influences and styles are diverse and provide an ample amount of eye-candy and inspiration that’ll have you reaching for a pen and paper.

Images via Parka Blogs

Trend: Dueling Styles & Collage Techniques




For our readers who relish combining dueling styles, today’s feature is for you. Whether you’re a fine artist, a print and publications designer or simply a reader or creative consumer, it’s hard to ignore the collage-effect that’s been surfacing for a while now.

We’ve all gotten used to seeing Perez Hilton‘s infamous scrawl on celebrity photos. Though it’s easy to discern his mass appeal from the fine art fabrication of Butch Anthony’s curiously eerie  skeleton and skull drawings (a few of which are hanging at Stag Men’s store in Austin), it’s important to note the illustrative effect.

or truly literal old meets new product shots, Horacio Salinas and Stellene Volandes recent collaboration for Departures Magazine takes the style to the next level, proving 2D meets 3D can be brilliant when modernized and deconstructed.

Made in the Shade Pattern Contest!




Dwell‘s serving up a little pattern competition for all of you up and coming designers out there! Forwarded along by our good friend, Jaye Davis, it looks like Dwell and Lutron® are teaming up for a crowd-sourced experiment with the opportunity to win a nice deal of press and acclaim.

The Challenge: Create a pattern treatment that will seamlessly move with the treatment up and down, all the while maintaining fabric pleats. Get inspired by raucous mid-century prints, Knoll, Day, Eames- anyone! The grand prize winner’s pattern will become a standard offering in Lutron’s collection of fabrics. For more info, click here.

The Art of Type




I get chills looking at both of these designs. So literal, playful and communicative. For those living in Manhattan, the latest edition to the downtown landscape is the Mondrian Hotel in SoHo. The typography in this print ad encompasses the personality Morgans Hotel Group has been conveying as of late. On the other side of the pond, this poster for the student illustration show, This Will Kill That reveals the great work is coming out of Camberwell College of Art.

Any type out there that makes you smile?

Friday Quick Links!




  1. 1. Amazing textile art from Nike Schroeder via designboom
  2. 2. These blue trees are an incredibly striking installation in the Vancouver Biennale via Poppytalk
  3. 3. Kristine Moran’s vibrant paintings are filled with life via My Love For You
  4. 4. Fantastic “written portraits” created for Dutch Book Week by Souverein via inspirefirst
  5. 5. Paper scraps stand in for pixels in Nathalie Boutté’s collages via Journel Du Design
  6. 6. Gorgeous illustrations from Alexey Kurbatov via The Audacity of Color
  7. 7. Loving Coralie Bickford-Smith’s book covers for the Great Food series via design*sponge
  8. 8. Interview with Jason Cesani of textile and wallpaper company Prinlink Studio via The Design Files
  9. 9. Yuuki Cyan’s whimsical rosy-cheeked, doll-faced illustrations via Sweet Station
  10. 10. A table that doubles as a sketchpad via For Breakfast
  11. 11. 1960’s pharmaceutical ads– if only their modern counterparts were as interesting via Aqua-Velvet
  12. 12. Beautifully delicate thread sculptures by Dorie Millerson via CMYBacon

Compiled by Emily Gup

Tracking Repetitive + Awesome.
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