fabric swatches

two beautiful fabrics by waverly.

tiger

this weekend i visited the UK's only branch of danish store tiger. its a stylish shop thats strangely located in basingstoke, and stocks lots scandinavian,dutch and japanese products at really low prices.

shopping

i picked up this apron for £2.00 in tiger.i really liked the japanese blossom on these mugs from asda - £3.00 for a set of 4.

shopping snaps

the usual round up of store snaps from the weekend starting off with cute tea towels from BHS.below mugs from asda.
fashion print from debenhams
pillows from cargo.
shoe from tie rack, bedlinen from BHS.
various dress prints... and an apron

cards & wrap

bold and colourful cards and wrapping paper from uk design studio caroline gardner.

ceramic motifs

you can take inspiration from the past with these vintage swedish and finnish motifs that are online via japan at scandinavia stock .

urban outfitters

some new items in at urban outfitters

new season homewares

there are new season homewares just arrived at marks & spencer.

japanese designer

today im looking at the work of top japanese designer - shinzi katoh. shinzi is one of the worlds best known zakka designers, and it seems as though there are few products he cannnot turn his hand to. there are ceramics, bags, glasses, towels, fabrics, and more. for those unfamilar with the term 'zakka', its often difficult to put into english, but it means all the 'small, various products used in everyday life', which encompasses household goods, daily necessities and sundries.lately, zakka has come to represent a style of art and craft that is simple, charming, and of Japanese esthetic. shinzi has his own website here at pumpkin family.

galbraith & paul

when i first heard about galbraith & paul , it was long before i was blogging. so it was great to be reminded about them by P+P reader johanna.the patterns are so good that we have to feature them here. the duo Liz Galbraith & Ephraim Paul have been creating designs for 10 years now, and are renowned for their hand blocked fabrics and lighting. the designs are beautiful especially the florals, and the hand printed look makes them so unique.

graphic design

the new next directory has arrived, remember the cool floral design of the spring/summer book here ?well the autumn/winter cover has gone for leaves (above).
its quite a dark design using a gradient effect.the cover of this catalogue is a good barometer of graphic design trends.
(pictured right is the co-ordinating box they send it out in.)

art prints

a selection of works by artist denise duplock - as seen at the fine art company.

rug

a new rug from danish company rice.

saucepans

even saucepans can be beautifully patterned, like these from fripon friponne . if only this were a trend here in the UK. think of the scope you could have designing saucepans.

japanese cute

its always nice to see a bit of japanese cute, like these bits from sunny style . i love the whole idea of patterned vinyl tapes. there should be more use of this sort of thing instead of the boring brown variety.

store report

just to finish up this weekends shopping snaps here are a few more. all the patterns below are from matalan, this top one is a swimsuit but it has some fab motifs on it in bold colours on a chocolate brown base.nice 'on trend' bedlinen with birds.

quatrefoil

whilst out shopping this weekend i noticed a few 'quatrefoil' patterns, so now im keen to have a go and do my own take on this renaissance classic. just for info the name quatrefoil means 'four leaves'.top two images of cards and gift wrap from clintons, and below cushion from matalan.

classic

talking of quatrefoil designs, this is a classic from alexander girard who ive spoken about before.

saturday shopping

also spotted in shops this weekend, above more of that grey & yellow we spoke about last week, and a nice modern take on the chrysanthemum on a cushion from cargo.
below a selection of mugs seen out & about ...
cute folk style stationary from wh smith
above and below various patterns spyed in stores.

badge review

this saturday we're dedicating print & pattern to button badge designs. why you may ask ? well because many designers are using them as creative outlets, and people are snapping them up as fashion accessories. there are some fantastic designs around just now, and they often come packaged on the cutest little cards. think of the fun you could have designing badges !

first up, above and below, are designs from korean graphic designers o-check. the little tree design has to be my fave badge that ive seen.

best packaging on a badge has to go to michelle romo of the brilliant crowded teeth. these header cards are just gorgeous - and the badges aint bad either. go outside is another of michelle's lines.

badge review 2

more great badges clockwise left to right : koolbadges etsy shop, kitty-craft, teatime!!!, stummesding's etsy shop.
above, cool graphic patterns on fabric badges from millimeter milligram.above ; cute owl badges from copacetique, vintage fabrics by my my and below vintage wallpaper inspired badges from art & me.

badge review 3

above cool badges by graphic designers and artists can be found at stereohype.
i love this badge above featuring a pink lace doiley seen at babosarang .

above more great bird designs from button arcade and below a very stylish set from studio mik miktrendy animal silhouettes in cool pastel shades by lusterbunny

and clockwise left to right 2 images from sonasomu, birds set by allison cole, little bird by pink bird creations, and heart by peanut buttons.

badge review 4

sophisticated colours on this set above from fluffy co
more cute backing cards from thimble
lovely flower designs by chicago girl
dead cute badges by what what, and sweet header card pattern from miss pom pom

badge review v

cross stitch badge with a cup cake by present and correct.above quirky patterned owls by ally moon.
fun designs from the glitter workshop
a great idea from thimble handmade goods - cards with matching badges.

not badges but...

finally, not badges but magnets, by i-pop designed by the brilliant jackie shapiro.

smudge ink

highy stylised dandelion heads in a fantastic shade of green by smudge ink

paper goods

beautiful card designs from seattle based 'pinkerton design'.

cute bookcovers

millimeter milligram are a korean company who produce the cutest little photo albums and notebooks. a lot of the designs seem to involve this very sweet design of a bird wearing a crown.

badges

im dedicating this saturday on print & pattern to badge designs. so if youre a badge/button designer or fan, be sure to take a look.
plus if you want to make suggestions on this or anything else you'd like to see covered on P+P please feel free to email me here
bowiestyle@hotmail.co.uk
or leave a comment below.

store website

all these nice patterns, like the brilliant lamps above, were spotted on the website of korean store kosneys. they have some really great patterns, navigating the site is just guesswork but you will be rewarded by seeing lots of lovely inspiring designs.

yellow

this time next year people may be asking us designers - can we see that in yellow ? theres definately a move towards the return of yellow whether its pale pastel or deep gold. its there in clothing just now so will presumably make the move from catwalk to curtains. yellow has many complimentary colours but the most 'on trend' partner is grey.

going dutch

from yesterdays japanese designs today im going dutch, and looking at these fun designs on glass coasters from dutch company present time. they also have some nifty cushions featuring the trend flower, a japanese chrysanth. present time are also the producers of some great products designed by dutch design studio muurbloem, as featured in the next post....

dutch designs

dutch design studio muurbloem love to mix traditional patterns with contemporary digital designs. as well as designing fantastic products, like these lampshades and clocks for present time, they specialise in customised wallcoverings.

and finally...

...a few more patterns from muurbloem.

designers guild

my favourite company of all time 'designers guild' have designed four patterns for LG washing machines. they cost £1300 and will be available from john lewis and harrods. according to LG tricia guild's fave is the black floral 'cloisonne' design (above).

great designs

ive been admiring the brilliant works of etsuko furuya. little is known to me about the artist as all the info is in japanese, but i know i love their textiles.

if anyone out there knows anymore about the designer, or if you can read japanese (theres a profile on the website) please, please let us know in the comments.

lotta jansdotter

people have asked me why theres been very little lotta jansdotter on P+P. the only reason has been that i felt a lot of you know & love her already. but now, i guess thats no reason not to feature people. so sit back and relive designs you already love, or if lotta is new to you be prepared to feel flushed with admiration for her work. plus its nice to see designs all gathered together in one place.

gift wrap

stylish flocked wrapping paper spotted in selfridges.

graphic cards

i spotted cards by the art file whilst out shopping on saturday and posted some spy pics. since then ive done some research and found that they are the work of illustrator and photographer robert j reader. the images are a bit small, but trust me the designs are fantastic.

fashion prints

a little look at the prints of fashion designer anne louise roswald

sweet

there's a distinctly foodie theme to these lino/letterpress cards from the bird pie press. sweets, popcorn, and fruit are all turned into cute patterns.

graphic designs

tube/subway maps are some of the most iconic images in the world, but take a look below at the paris metro seen through the eyes of antoine & manuel. the french design agency produce these great graphics for all manner of print and products. check the website for further inspiration, including their lush graphics created for christian lacroix.

sophisticated

im a fan of the bold, colourful, graphic style, but sometimes your design requirement can call for a different look. like these sophisticated wedding invitations by kenzie kate.

floral wrap