Pattern: Evolution And Revolution

In the third decade of the 21st century, designers could be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed by the colossal variety of pattern available to them. Fabrics, wallpapers and tiles are embellished with patterns created by man, while stone, timber and other materials provide us with the ever-changing patterns that occur in the natural world. Throughout history, much of man’s ingenuity has been spent designing cunning patterns and developing techniques to apply them to cloth and other materials and today new production techniques mean that pattern is now only limited by the designer’s imagination. But what is it that designers need to know about the application of pattern? How can we learn to use it with confidence, and how can we encourage our clients to welcome pattern into their world? To find out, we're joined by Christian Lee, Managing Director of the fabric company, Christian Lee and Philip Sykas, Reader in Textile History at The Manchester Metropolitan University. Thanks to our series partner Parkside Architectural Tiles for their support. Parkside offers a RIBA approved CPD, ‘An Introduction to Tiling Patterns – symmetry, repeat patterns and tesselations’ – more information available at https://www.parkside.co.uk/.