Pattern Pulp

Follow-up: Zip and Repeat




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The zipper trend we reported on last month is revealing itself across the globe in fashion, fine art and furniture alike. From Catherine Malandrino’s zip applique collar to this brilliant malleable lamp featured at the Stockholm Design Fair, clever applications are finding their way into the design side of the creation process. In the southern hemisphere, Brazilian conceptual artist, Nielson Leirner covers large canvases with warm colored fabrics, which are delicately draped open with zippers. This example of the mundane is quickly forgotten though when designers add a punk point of view. Rag and Bone’s latest bondage experiment, as noted by New York Magazine, is the “skinny jean for fat days.”

BA coverage by: Rebecca Silver

BA Street Finds: Saving in Style




swines and savings

Saving money is certainly in style this season, and now so are piggy banks. Since everyone is pinching pennies, Argentine designers have transformed the kiddie version of a 401k into a design object for the style and money conscious. The colorful swine are dominating Buenos Aires’ boutiques, including Tienda Palacio, Puntos en el Espacio and Materia Urbana. Local kitsch brand Casicursi created two of our favorite piggys – one covered in leopard print, another in red and blue paisley. These two patterns have been dominating international trends, but look fresh when used in this unexpected way. Malba (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires), the premier modern art museum in Argentina, features colorful leather piggys in the must-see museum shop. The leather material of these banks celebrates the culture’s most popular export in a fun new way.

How else can you save in style?

By: Rebecca Silver

Homegoods: Tactile Topography




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In our modern times, filled with GPS and GoogleMaps, it’s no wonder that we seem to have developed a fascination for knowing where we are at all times. It’s reached a new level of poignancy to be able to locate yourself as well as peer over your neighborhood from above, observing it’s grid-like form. This sentiment is popping up in various textile projects and is most successfully executed by Emily Fischer of Haptic Labs and Marcello Campa and Stefano Avesani of the Instant Hutong Project. While Fischer references the borough of Brooklyn, quilting on silk dupioni, Campa and Avesani explore the Hutong districts throughout downtown Beijing.  Regardless of the landscape, both works bring a permanency to topography that has become nearly extinct with technology’s latest advances.  Nowadays lines are blurred so easily perhaps there is a certain comfort in being able to see and feel the things that don’t change so easily.

Compiled by: Emily Gup

Budget: Taping Spaces




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Budget slashing has forced artists, retailers and marketers across the globe to get creative in finding lower-cost solutions to advertise their wares.  Be it a rummage in the craft bin or a simple play on words, trend-setters such as Anthropologie and Barneys have proven less can be more when the concepts are strong. Today we’ve chosen to focus on tape as a decorative way to enhance a creative message.  Earlier this summer the malleable nature of this medium was incorporated in the Color Forms layout featured in the New York Times Magazine where the photographer chose to compliment this Matryoshka table with vibrant colored floor striping.  Applying similar energy and stiff color blocking, this repuposed Umbro t-shirt from 2006 reveals that DIY done right can update any brand.  Using color, function and a healthy dose of sexy, Marc Jacobs has created one of the simplest and most striking window displays on New York’s Bleeker Street, proving that duct tape can work for even the most innovative designers.

Color: Green and Graphic




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It’s common knowledge that nature inspires design.  When we saw this tomato worm on one of our favorite design and inspiration blogs, Lovely Morning, a few months ago, we knew that Summer ’09 was going to be both green and graphic.  The natural pattern found on this stunning caterpillar is visually connected to the beautiful tile work backing a shot of Kid America by the infamous photographer, The Selby.  We then found a black and white retail display at LA’s The Lab, that was distinctly reminicient of the scalloped mosaic.  Much like the caterpillar’s transformation to a butterfly, graphic design inspiration can evolve in equally magnificent ways.

Trend: Crayon Colored Balloons




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Summer’s finally here and balloons appear to be the signifier of the season.  Be it literal or interpretive, pastel floaters have gained an inspirational edge, as it’s hard to resist a balloon’s youthful, colorful zeal.  Artists and photographers seem to be using balloons to convey messaging representative of our time, mixing hopeful optimism with realistic and momentary pleasure. Tiara Mia of Turkey has photographed an incredible layout, using a string of vibrant balloons to convey color, mood and atmosphere.  Dipping into the Vogue archives, Dolce & Gabbana have recently curated the exhibit, Extreme Beauty in Vogue, in correlation with the launch of their latest makeup campaign. This June 1949 photograph by Clifford Colin glorifies the swimming cap while reminding us of this familiar prop.

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In conveying hope and wonder, Disney Pixar, Bloomingdales and Dior have all devised their own interpretations of the familiar phrase, “up, up and away.”

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Sliding into the figurative realm, the Kyouei Design team of Japan reference balloons (as well as wine) with their “glass tank” prototype.  This light filled spectrum beautifully displays opaque and transparent qualities similar to it’s balloon counterparts, while this ampersand pattern from ffffound cleverly displays floating typography.

Additional contributions by: Emily Gup

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