Pattern Pulp

Gifts: Marking Your Territory




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It’s always a little tough finding gifts that are foolproof.  Unless instructed otherwise, I always try to go the creative route, as I love initiating artistic moments.  While at the home goods concept store, Future Perfect, in Williamsburg this past weekend, I stopped in my tracks at these ingenious crayon rings.  The chic pyramids come in a playful palette of primaries and can be coordinated with any wardrobe.  Doodling on the go just got more fashionable.

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If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to DIY fashion, check out Wishing Fish’s T-Shirt Graffiti, as it’s under $10 and a perfectly sensible gift for any child (or adult).  If you’re aiming for personable luxury, Longchanp offers a blank canvas for their signature Le Pilage bag, though I’d be worried about making a mistake with every mark!

Trend: Graceful Graffiti




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Every artist loves a happy accident. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, a happy accident is an unexpected and unintended creative mistake that ends up being more brilliant than your day’s work. For those in search of a tool that offers a degree of uncertainty and requires little to no prep, spray paint is the way to go.  Many designers have taken note, as this technique has gained momentum in creative studios throughout the globe. Curiosity, the Japanese brainchild of Gwenael Nicolas and Reiko Miyamoto, was established in 1998 and caters primarily to the design needs of luxury clients. Combining saturated pigments with Shu Uemura‘s eau de toilette collection, Curiosity’s bottle art emulates the textural results of a prolonged spray. 

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ABC Carpet gets a lot of airtime on Pattern Pulp.  Their retail installments set an industry standard and usually showcase an organic interpretation of modern materials. Their latest window display accentuates plant growth with the use of neon paint and an imperfect stencil. Adding russian flair and gold pigment, Stoli’s recent marketing campaign revives it’s expressionist roots, stenciling illegible phrases alongside chic photography.

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Tapping academic and artistic references, John Powell’s 1990 MIT exhibit, Partial Lines, uses holographic installations to convey depth and plane.  Utilizing a similar technique for their hair powder packaging, the creative ingenues at Bumble and Bumble encase their alternative shampoos in subtle spray dust.  Tying this collection together, silhouette graffiti, such as this colorless image, is a careful execution of expressive markings paired with restrictive boundaries.

Follow-up: Graffiti Snapshots from LA




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Back in February, Pattern Pulp cited Andre Saraiva’s Monsieura graffiti on the streets of Silverlake.  Ever since our highlight, the commercialization of this toothy character has upped the ante.  Belvedere Vodka’s latest marketing campaign, entitled One-X, tiles edgy party pics from Belvedere influencer nights with hot pink graffiti faces.  The campaign is currently papering walls on Prince street as well as trendsetting magazines such as Interview and Anthem.

Fashion: User Generated Contest




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Marketing teams love to engage their clients’ customers.  For loyal fans, nothing can quite compare to customizable products that are both useful and super cool.  Last week, a friend and former colleague, J. Nordberg, passed along the link to Champion’s Hoodie Contest, the athletic company’s latest attempt at rebranding their 80’s style sweats. “I think the contest appeals to its core audience who are urban individuals exerting control over their lives and their style, not to mention, its fun!  You can totally make mistakes and not have to pay for them and if you come up with a beautifully designed hoodie, it feels like your own creation.  It also internalizes the brand,” says Nordberg.  Though this concept certainly isn’t a new one, the submissions thus far are staggeringly different and quite striking.  Spend your lunch hour getting creative, facebook servers could use the break!

Trend: High-end Doodles




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When buying or revamping expensive furniture, it’s quite difficult to suppress your inhibitions and trust your creative gut.  Back in July, The New York Times highlighted Pamela Bell, one of four original founders of the Kate Spade brand.  Bell took it upon herself to reinvent the concept of doodling and let her children go wild on two pieces of antique furniture.  The results, though alarming to some, were well received my most.  Fast forward a few months, and it’s time to inspect how this idea of laissez faire fabric graffiti seeped into the marketplace.  On display at Elizabeth Bauer, a store for modern traditionalists, sits a wonderfully adapted high-end interpretation of this style. French handwriting covers all visible fabric, representing a playful pattern on pattern effect.  This chair is as flamboyant as it is elegant.

Bold & Expressive Marks

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Leanne Shapton’s illustrations exemplify the perfect balance between a refined color palette and playful shapes.  Much of her work can be found in bookstores and on the shelves of home libraries.  Resultantly, her expressive style is often paired with highbrow literature.

Thin & Intricate Lines

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When inspecting the doodle, delicate markings are just as important as sweeping gestures.  The 60’s math toy, the hypotrochoid art set, marries the idea of precision and fun for anyone who can get their hands on these serrated wheels.  Using a similarly detailed approach, the artist, Marian Bantjes is continually reinventing her line.  Here she merges type with surrounding shapes for a colorful invitation.  Dale Kaplan achieves her own interpretation of scratch, creating a high-end pillow by using nothing more than a sewing machine and thread.

Street: Graffiti Snapshots from LA




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During a trending trip to Silverlake, I encountered a playful wall of Monsieura lollipop creepers along Hollywood Blvd.  This is a personal term I coined for these lanky, top-heavy, shoe-wearing graffiti characters.  At first glance these illustrations are quite mischievious, with their eerily toothy smiles and asymmetrical eyeballs.  The only neutralizing features are the energetic legs and accompanying footwear.  A parralleling and more commercial take on these long-legged strollers appears splashed across a whateverittakes bag at Urban Outfitters.  Another example of art imitating life.

Tracking Repetitive + Awesome.
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