Pattern (design)

“ Now that we have schools of design, and more accessible specimens of art, the direction is given without the aids—“Make a new pattern,” and the artist sits down with nothing before him but pencil and paper—unless, indeed, he finds aids for himself in wild flowers, and other such instructors in beauty of form and color. By degrees, the different parts of the pattern shape themselves out, and combine—the centre groups with the ends, and the ends grow out into the sides with a natural and graceful transition. ”

“ It will now be seen that the design—the least mention of which strikes terror to the soul of the uninitiated—does not consist in the drawing or the making up of the pattern alone, and that there are important preliminary stages to be gone through. Indeed the design is well on its way by the time the worker reaches the fourth point, i.e., the building up of the pattern. ”

“ Emphasis is on the overall effect of pattern, not on its items. The continuous forked-and-angled design, the combinations of hourglass figures, of spaced rhomboids or hexagons, even the simpler fishbone pattern—all have this total-field approach, with relative indifference to figure elements that got squeezed, stretched, or distorted. ”

“ There seems something fixed and fundamental about these linear constructive bases of pattern design from the point of view of what might be termed decorative or linear logic, and apart from their origin in actual constructive necessity before spoken of, and, as far as soundness of principle can guide us in designing, we cannot go wrong in obeying them, however various the superstructure of floral fancy we may build upon them. The acknowledgment of the principle alone, of course, will not make us successful designers, any more than the skeleton makes a living figure. ”

“ In making a pattern the first thing to be decided upon is some main idea, the detail that is to carry it out must then be considered. This latter may be of various types, such as flowers, foliage, figures, animals, geometrical forms, interlacing strapwork, quatrefoils, &c., &c.; perhaps several of these motifs may be combined together in the same design. ”

“ Where a pattern will be broken by deep folds, as in textiles, in hangings, and curtains, the conditions favour the recurrence of bold masses, richer points, and more strongly defined forms, at intervals, than would be agreeable in a pattern for extension on a plane surface, unless we except carpets, where boldness of form and richness of colour are desirable. ”

“ It is a great saving of work to the designer when the pattern has not to be spread over the paper so as to give each line separately, as doing so generally puts the pattern so much out of shape that it requires first to be designed square, or of the proper dimensions, on suitable design paper, and afterwards transferred to the working design for the card-cutter. ”

“ When painting patterns that are as large or larger on the cloth than they are on the design-paper, much more care and skill are necessary than when the pattern is one that is much larger on the design-paper than it will be on the cloth, as is usually the case; and in consequence of the large size of the checks required for carpet design-paper, it is evident that representations of any small objects—unless those of a very simple nature—cannot be put on it without being greatly enlarged. ”

“ The pattern cannot exist without design. Design means intention and motive. Many of the motives in Oriental textile decorations are suggestive of intention, as is shown by their names. Among Indian patterns we meet with “ripples of silver,” “sunshine and shade,” “pigeon’s eye,” “peacock’s neck,” &c. ”

“ There is no doubt that with patterns printed more range may be allowed than with patterns to be woven, where line and form are both controlled by the necessities of being reproduced by so many points to the inch. At the same time the object of all design and pattern work being the greatest beauty compatible with the material and conditions, one should seek, not such effects as merely test the capacity or ingenuity of the machine, but rather such as appear to be most decoratively appropriate and effective. ”

“ Following this thought of the oneness of art, we find that the picture, the plan, and the pattern are alike in the sense that each is a group of synthetically related spaces. Abstract design is, as it were, the primer of painting, in which principles of Composition appear in a clear and definite form. In the picture they are not so obvious, being found in complex interrelations and concealed under detail. ”

“ Such considerations naturally lead us to the question of the use of quantities in design—the ornamental proportions of ornament, or the contrasting distribution of form and line. For the mere repetition of ornamental forms over surfaces and objects without reference to proportion or structure is not decoration. The perception of appropriate quantities in design is really the decorative gauge or measure of effect.
In designing a bordered panel—or say a carpet—we [99] might decide to throw the weight of pattern, colour, or emphasis upon either the field or border. ”

“ Any pattern or design which shows prominently any set pattern, or spots which suggest a sum of multiplication, or which, in the half-light of night or early morning, might be likely to fix themselves upon the tired brain, suggesting all kinds of weird forms, are especially to be avoided. The design should be of such a description that, saving as regards colour, it should offer no specially marked pattern. ”

“ Beautiful binding, indeed, may display some of the most refined qualities of decorative art in disposition of line and pattern, while it affords in gold tooling another instance of 372 strict limitation of method lending itself to free invention and fancy.
The artist is under the necessity of building up his lines and constructing his forms by the repetition of the impress of certain tools, the most resourceful designer being shown by the decorative use he is able to make of few and simple forms. ”

“ They are the most unrestful looking things imaginable. The important elements of the work lie in the colour, shape, and texture of the pieces used, for upon the right selection the result wholly depends. The shapes chosen must be simple owing to the necessity of fitting and stitching them together, but there is plenty of variety obtainable with simplicity. The design [Pg 185] may consist of one shape repeated or several. If only one, it is limited to a few geometrical figures, such as the square, hexagon, or shell shape; if more [Pg 186] than one, there can be greater variety of pattern. Fig. ”

“ PATTERN, a model, that which serves as an original from which similar objects may be made, or as an example or specimen; in particular an artistic design serving as a sample or model, hence the arrangement or grouping of lines, figures, &c., which make up such a design. ”

“ The discovery of the one in the many, the immediate apprehension Page 348 of the fluent tracing of a pattern, a form, or a structure, is intrinsically delightful. The pattern of a tapestry design is as striking and suggestive as the colors themselves. ”

“ When we come to the second division of textile design, that in which pattern is applied to the surface of the cloth after it has been woven, by means of printing, the designer is chiefly controlled by considerations of scale and beauty of effect, as he has to adapt his design to various purposes, such as hangings and furniture coverings, or small dress patterns, kerchiefs, and so forth. Beyond the necessary limit of size of repeat and its satisfactory construction, he is freer than in designing for woven textiles ”

“ Very early in the child’s training, while the stick printing is unfolding the elements of design to him, he applies his designs to enrich his construction work. It is the time for the child to begin through concrete efforts to get rooted into his thinking that designs are made to be applied and that everything [Pg 127] which contributes to his comfort, happiness and well-being exists because a design has been applied.
HINDU BLOCK PRINTED DESIGN
Then is also the time for the child to see some printed textiles in which the pattern is geometrical like his stick printing. ”

“ Limitations also, both as to imitation and exuberance, are imposed on us by the office our pattern has to fulfil. A small and often-recurring pattern of a subordinate kind will bear much less naturalism than one in a freer space and more important position, and the more obvious the geometrical structure of a pattern is, the less its parts should tend toward naturalism. This has been well understood from the earliest days of art to the very latest times during which pattern-designing has clung to any wholesome tradition, but is pretty generally unheeded at present. ”

“ It has already been suggested that Design is not merely a question of idea and draughtsmanship, but is also dependent upon materialistic conditions, which, in practical work, must be understood and properly considered.
Whether the intended design be for some form of flat pattern, such as weaving, etc., or for any particular craft expression, it is essential that the limitations of the process and material involved be clearly kept in view, and that suitable elements for expression be chosen. ”

“ In the chapter on style it is said that a pattern is as ineffaceable as a word. But one will occasionally disappear for a time, till the ruin that covers it is cleared away, and the lost design recovered and employed simply as a decoration, if it is beautiful ”

“ A herring-bone pattern (Fig. 2, fourth band) and a few simple combinations of [15] straight or angled lines complete the decorative attempts of these people.
We often find that a feeling for symmetry prompts the artist to more or less design his patterns with regard to the middle-line, although the latter may not be indicated as such. The same comb offers examples of this.
It must not be imagined that these people do not employ curved lines in their patterns because they cannot draw them. On the contrary, when they wish to represent animals, they can do so with spirit and truthfulness. ”

“ This process is repeated day by day, and the work never tires. Of course it is a condition that the design is able to hold the attention, otherwise the bright colours would serve little better purpose than if they defined a geometrical pattern. ”

“ Lay a couple of folds of velvet or felt on the table, place the pattern on this, and with a needle of medium size or tracing-wheel prick out the pattern, being careful to follow the outline closely and make the perforations quite close.
MECHANICAL ENLARGEMENT OF DESIGNS.
The simplest way is to enlarge by the eye, as the artists do. One method is to divide the whole design into squares and rule off the paper to be enlarged in corresponding squares of larger size. ”

“ No doubt my poetry errs on the side of oddness. I hope in time to have a more balanced and Miltonic style. But as air, melody, is what strikes me most of all in music and design in painting, so design, pattern, or what I am in the habit of calling inscape is what I above all aim at in poetry. Now it is the virtue of design, pattern, or inscape to be distinctive and it is the vice of distinctiveness to become queer. This vice I cannot have escaped.' And again two months later: 'Moreover the oddness may make them repulsive at first and yet Lang might have liked them on a second reading. ”

“ I have seen a good deal of the practice of putting pattern over pattern in paper-hangings, and it seems to me a very unsatisfactory one, and I am, in short, convinced, as I hinted just now, that cheap recurring patterns in a material which has no play of light in it, and no special beauty of its own, should be employed rather sparingly, or they destroy all refinement of decoration and blunt our enjoyment of whatever beauty may lie in the designs of such things. ”

“ When he is a designer, the most successful method of getting a variety of patterns would be for the manufacturer to purchase sketches for ideas and hand them over to his designer, who will be considered to have a thorough knowledge of the practical work, to prepare them to suit the fabrics for which they are intended, perhaps completely altering them, making two or three out of one, or combining two or more to make one pattern if necessary—in fact, using them as material to work from. ”

“ Though it is true that the highest art, pictorial and sculptural, is always struggling towards naturalism, the art of decoration is, by its nature, constantly tending to conventionalism. Patterns, if not absolutely geometrical or naturalistic, must be classed under this principle. Let us examine what is meant by a conventional pattern. ”

“ The direction of line used in relieving forms, and expressing modelling and details, must depend much upon individual taste and feeling as well as knowledge of form. The element of beauty of design also comes in, and the question between this and force or literalness—the difference between a study or direct transcript from nature, and a design with a purely ornamental aim, or a composition directed mainly to the expression of a particular idea or emotion. ”

“ The decorative designer will sometimes want to emphasize forms with the utmost force and realism at his command, as in some crisp bit of carving or emphatic pattern, to give point and relief in his scheme of quantities. ”