C on t emporary Pattern Design a selection of 5 contemporary pattern designers
"The current fascination with ornament and decoration can be seen not as a reaction against, but rather as an addition to, the work and thinking of the turn-of-the century systems-obsessed designers." (Eye no. 58 vol. 15, Winter 2005.)
Designed by Giovana Jenkins for the module Design Practice 2 of the Cambridge School of Arts, May/2014.
Content Marian Bantjes/////////////////06 Mary Katrantzou////////////////10 Katie Scott//////////////////////14 Kapitza//////////////////////////18 Maija Louekari//////////////////22
MARIAN BANTJES Marian Bantjes is a designer, typographer, writer and illustrator working internationally from her base on a small island of the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver. She is known for her detailed and lovingly precise vector art, her obsessive hand work, her patterning and ornament. Often hired to create custom type for magazines, advertising and special projects, Marian’s work has an underlying structure and formality that frames its
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organic, fluid nature. It is these combinations and juxtapositions that draw the interest of such a wide variety of designers and typographers, from experienced formalists to young students.
"I have no desire to create something I've seen before, and I do not troll books for images to trigger ideas. I already have more ideas than I can handle."//////////////////////////////
"My style is always evolving, and if you look at my work you can see multiple interests emerge. People tend to think of me in terms of the swirly, pretty vector art, but it is much more varied than that. I'm quite happy that my work is eclectic while still personally identifiable. I expect it to change a lot over the next few years."//////////////////
MARY KATRANTZOU Greek– born Mary Katrantzou has quickly made her presence known in the fashion world with her hyper–real and paradisiacal prints – which started out life as oversized jewellery designs on simple shifts for her Central Saint Martins MA collection in 2008. While she has courted attention from the outset, it was her spring/summer 2011 interiors collection, complete with lampshade skirts, that really put her on the fashion map and
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made hers one of the must-see labels of London Fashion Week from then on. Since then, there has been no looking back and the designer continues to go from strength to strength - and has won a host of awards along the way.
"The more you learn about the processes and the more you understand about working simultaneously with your pattern, the more you can do. So I hope there's much more to learn and hopefully much more to give."////////////
"Print can be as definitive as a cut or a drape and allows a woman to filter beauty found in design, in a subversive way. All my prints are constructed through digital technology. Digital print allows me to experiment with print in a way that fine art and other methods could not. It opens up a huge spectrum for possibility; I can create possibility out of impossibility, surrealism out of realism and both vice versa." ////////////////////////////////////////
KATIE SCOTT Katie Scott is an illustrator currently based out of London, UK. Scott has worked for a long list of clients producing editorial illustrations, such as Universal Records, Phaidon Press, New York Times Magazine, BBC, Platform Magazine, and Earth Magazine among many others. Scott has a great “old – timey” text book visual style in her illustrative work that brings us back to elementary school.
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"My work really hinges on imagery. I think a lot of the images I am drawing and painting could be described in many ways and yet awhen they are painted they become something really new to me. so I am interested to see where that leads."////////////////
"Art for me has always equated to invention, and I am drawn to images. so when you are inventing images the world starts to melt and become something to manipulate. along with that is my long standing interest in reduction and the process of design where things are refined and reduced to design language, which has a relationship with abstraction is very accessible to me."////////////////////
K A P I T Z A Based in London, Kapitza is a company of two sisters that are originally from a village in southwest Germany. After working for pioneering companies in digital media, they set up their studio kapitza in London’s East End and discovered a niche crafting picture and pattern fonts. Working in the intersection between illustration, art and type design, they have become highly regarded in the UK
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and abroad. A stunning book series showcasing the endless possibilities of Geometric, their suite of minimalist pattern fonts, has brought them even more recognition.
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"We like that clarity of form and color of minimalist designs. Uncluttered designs tend to be visually stronger and more powerful."///////
"There was nwever a time when I learnt to use software.. . it was always learning by doing, using the software in a different way, playing, using it as a tool."//////////////////////////
M A I J A
L O U EK A R I
Based in London, Kapitza is a company of two sisters that are originally from a village in southwest Germany. After working for pioneering companies in digital media, they set up their studio kapitza in London’s East End and discovered a niche crafting picture and pattern fonts. Working in the intersection between illustration, art and type design, they have become highly regarded in the UK
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and abroad. A stunning book series showcasing the endless possibilities of Geometric, their suite of minimalist pattern fonts, has brought them even more recognition.
"It's hard to say what inspires or influences my work. I guess everyday life. Colours. Seasons of the year. At the moment I'm really interested in different handcrafted objects from across the world Mexican, African, Indian etc. And now that I have two kids, they also influence my work." //////////////////////////////
Comtemporary Pattern Design by Giovana Jenkins May, 2014