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| "A Hiena Feliz", pattern for the background of a blog, copyright Bethania Lima, 2013. |
A very old,
sweet and rigorous math teacher of mine, years ago, too many years ago to
mention, was teaching us logarithm and began the class by asking: “What’s a
logarithm?” Promptly, he answered: “A logarithm is a number”.
I love that
way of focusing at things. Let’s get it straight. Let’s not complicate things.
That was his message. Logarithms are not complicated at all, they are just
numbers.
Surface
Pattern Design is not complicated at all either. It is just … pattern. Designed
by someone (hopefully one of us, J) to fit/cover/embellish/protect a
certain surface.
I have
recently begun some pattern boards on Pinterest. Some of my boards cover the
sort of patterns that are around us (dots, stripes, florals, geometric,
graphic, conversational, you name it). Other boards were created considering
the end product that will have patterns on its surface (for instance, garments,
home wares, scarves, rugs, fabrics in general, stationery items, so on and so
forth).
And,
keeping it simple, what’s The Little White Book of Surface Pattern Designers?
Well, guess what? Oh, yeah, it is a book. That simple. A book that contains the
authors of those previously mentioned patterns that cover surfaces that are
everywhere. Who would be interested in that book, you may ask. Well, hopefully,
anyone who is interested in adding a pattern to the surface of their products
and would like to see a list of people who had been trained to do so. In a
proper, passionate and creative way. And the designers found in that book
represent a huge range of styles, backgrounds, cultures, ages, areas. In other
words: diversity and freshness.
Talking
about the book, I must tell you that it all began with a fun and clever idea
from a special lady, called Gill Eggleston (the designer behind Pattern Addict, who, by the way, also created this blog). She invited all the designers
participating in a Facebook group of fellow designers to make Efutos (a Japanese
charming word for decorated envelopes) to send one another and also to feature
them in the book she was creating. So, The White Book came out of this
delicious initiative of her and became a very colorful showcase of Efutos,
representing the different talents we, pattern designers from the group, have. On top of being a great designer and
illustrator, Giil is very talented at handling projects and getting things
done. She’s a multi task, unstoppable, kind of talent. And I am very proud of being on the same group
as she is. I am very proud of taking
part on The White Book. If you haven’t seen it yet, go and have a look. It is
fun, beautiful, colourful and has almost no numbers on it (in case you’re not a
fan of logarithms!).
Thank you for stopping by.
Bethania.
