Pattern Pulp

Quick Links: Weekly Notables




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1. Art Basel in 60 photographs, via Yatzer.

2. The beautiful work of textile artist, Deepa Panchamia, via High Snobette.

3. Certainly the nicest looking fire extinguishers we’ve ever seen! Via The Dieline.

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4. Covering the trend of milk in design, via Abduzeedo.

5. Stella Bugbee’s tape inspired by Navajo patterns, via Kitsunenoir.

6. Ivana Plavec’s used nails to create the sheep design on her modular screens, via Moco Loco.

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7. Gorgeous wallpaper created by Swedish design Lena Hautoniemi, via Design*Sponge.

8. Interview with artist and designer, Mike Perry, via Shiny Squirrel.

9. Marimekko now does wallpaper! Via Always Mod.

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10. An interview with French designer and stylist, Fifi Mandirac, and a peek inside her Paris home, via Decor8.

11. We wouldn’t want any of these beetles in our home, but they sure make for interesting color inspiration! Via Colour Lovers.

12. Gumption’s adorable picture frames made with vintage calico fabric, via Design Boom.

Compiled By: Emily Gup

Street Finds: Window Trends




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Manhattan is home to some wonderful stores with even more magnificent window displays.  Designers often plan these fantastical arrangements months in advance, while visual teams work round the clock to get each window looking perfect, all in an attempt to lure customers off the street and into their stores.  While these displays double as public art for some, others follow these commercial relics quite religiously.  Here at Pattern Pulp, we’re fervent observers, and so we’ve begun photographing displays around the city, hoping to connect the dots whenever relevant themes and stories emerge.

And so, our first window round up:

Linear Stripes:

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One of the most notable trends this season appears to be the continued use of bold color.  Be it a clothing rainbow or carefully aligned fixture spectrum, stores like The Gap, Anthropologie and J.Crew are doing more with less to showcase their stock in the most budget savvy ways.

Flat Color:

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Materials range from flat and printed (the norm) to tangible and tactile, as evident at The Gap, Henry Bendel and Kate Spade.

White Birds:

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White birds keep popping up, evocative of the peaceful dove, oragami structures and, of course, the beach – it is summer time, after all. Pictured above, Levis, BCBG and Kate’s Paperie.

Found Objects:

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Found objects also reign supreme: hangers, bags, scraps of fabric – the very products being sold are being rendered as part of the “art,” as opposed to a blatant “here’s the shirt: buy me.” Pictured above, we have Barneys and Anthropologie, Gucci and Prada.

Warholian Photorealism:

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We also love the Warholian photorealism of Diesel and French Connection – they seem to be tapping a trend that has continued to infiltrate a variety of markets.

Coverage by: Emily Gup

Trend: Geometric Shards




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A new story is like a growing crystal. It is comprised of shards representing various emotions, such as happiness, sadness, fear and love. With each crystal comes a chain of past experiences, and, because each occurrence is defined by a series of emotions, this chain is colored by a prism of external events and relationships.  If all instances are built upon one another, then everyone’s story is uniquely different- a new jumble of people, places, and things.  This concept is quite literally defined by Alexander McQueen’s Spring/Summer 09 collection, as his kaleidoscopic patterns bring angular definition to the human body.  In the graphic world, Simon Page, an artist from the UK, has devised a series of stunning posters entitled, Cuben.  Each layout plays with hexagons, transparency and light to create space-like moods, the foundation for life’s geometric fabric.

Additional contributions by: Kelsey-Lee LeGassick

Trend: Butterfly Beauties




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Pairing these two images side by side seems almost sacrilegious, however, we’d be fooling ourselves, and our readers, if we ignored the obvious artistic similarities between these paralleling layouts.  Butterflies signify many things, depending on what part of the world you come from.  In the image on the left (artist unknown), the colors are muted, though blue and bone read as vibrantly as the disturbing subject matter.  On the right, Heidi Klum, one of media’s (and fashion’s) most recognizable faces, endorses the LGRumor 2 phone, conveying that butterflies are an extension of her personality.  Regardless of the metamorphosis stage a butterfly (or a person, for that matter) is at, moods relaying youth, renewal, death and timelessnes can all be applied when considering this colorful, fluttering, insect.

Service: Microtrending with Pattern Pulp




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Pattern Pulp recently gave a microtrending presentation for the design team at Revman International.  Revman is a bedding manufacturer who licenses brands ranging from Marimekko and Steve Madden to Michael Kors and Tommy Bahama.  While we’re no stranger to the Home Department, it was a true pleasure to get out from behind the desk and share some of our latest findings.  It’s affirming to know that we can help designers and firms connect the dots from inspiration to commercial application.

Interested in a practical approach to dot-connecting? Contact us to have Pattern Pulp work with your team.

Trend: Well-Dealt Hands




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The ubiquitous playing card is now being used for more than just playing games.

The U.S. Postal Service has just issued a new stamp in their popular Love series inspired by the king and queen of hearts from the 18th century French archives, the same cards that are the source for the recognizable 52 card deck that we know today.  Commercializing the game even more, Bryan Berg, the Guinness world record holder for card-stacking, is featured in this remarkable promotion video for the Lexus quiet ES model.  Bringing the deck to life, London fashion designer, Ashish Gupta’s Spring/Summer 2009 Americana collection includes sequined dresses reminiscent of Alice and Wonderland.

In the art world, playing cards have continued to be a source of inspiration. The geometric abstractionist, Sonia Delaunay designed her Simultane deck in 1964, while Salvador Dali had his own surrealist take with a series of lithographs completed in 1972.  Bringing this everyday pleasure into the luxury realm, Tiffany & Co., Kate Spade, Vivienne Westwood and Hermes have all placed their design stamp—and a price tag—on decks for the modern and upscale home.

By: Karen Maineti

Tracking Repetitive + Awesome.
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