Hailed as the British counterparts to Charles and Ray Eames, Robin and Lucienne Day electrified the British design scene in the 1950s with their startling furniture and textile designs. Indeed, their influence over the next five decades has been so profound that their early products were recently reintroduced by Conran's Habitat. Lucienne Day pioneered the introduction of modern abstract pattern design in the textile industry. Her fabrics, which oscillate between bold geometric figures and more subtle abstract patterns, were produced by companies as diverse as Heal's and Liberty of London. Robin Day's influential furniture designs pioneered the use of materials such as plywood, steel, and plastic. His stacking polypropylene chair (right) is one of the best-selling chairs in the world. Robin and Lucienne Day, the first-ever full-length monograph on their designs, features never-before-seen archival material along with over 250 color images of the full range of their work, including furniture, ceramics, textiles, wallpaper, interiors, appliances, exhibit designs, and graphics. Spanning a half-century's creative output, no designer will fail to be awed by the genius seen in this book.

The first in depth study to look at all aspects of the work of Lucienne Day, bringing together her work in textiles, wallpaper, carpets and ceramics from both Britain and Europe.

"Twentieth-Century Pattern Design combines photographs - including many newly published images - with soundly researched text, creating an essential resource for enthusiasts and historians of modern design. The book also serves as a creative sourcebook for students and designers, inspiring new flights of fancy in pattern design."--Jacket.

Czech-born Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) was an incredibly adept textile designer who trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna during the 1920s under Franz Cisek and Josef Hoffmann. She produced textile designs for the Wiener Werkstatte and some of the Parisian fashion houses while she lived in Vienna. She married the architect and interior designer Jacques Groag - they made a successful team. However, in 1939 they were compelled to emigrate to the UK. Jacqueline Groag continued to produce textile design work for the British market, and after the war her designs could be seen at numerous outlets such as David Whitehead, Grafton, John Lewis and Liberty. For more than 20 years she worked as a freelance designer, supplying designs for carpets, greetings cards, laminates, plastics, textiles, wallpapers and wrapping papers to many firms including Bond-Worth Carpets, British European Airways, the British Overseas Airways Corporation, Dunlop, ICI and London Transport. In 1984 she became a Fellow of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. She was a prodigious and successful designer to the end of her life. Along with Lucienne Day and Marian Mahler she is seen as central to a new and exciting development in textile design in the 1950s. Together their work is featured in a major exhibition 'Designing Women' which begins in Colorado Springs in September 2008. This is a ground breaking publication on the work of this highly important and influential designer.

A visual goldmine for designers of original print, weave and embellishment, Sourcing Ideas for Textile Design will help you generate new ideas, develop them methodically and finally create beautifully designed textiles. The carefully selected range of images illustrate how to use visual information in this process from a variety of sources, breaking down the process into key themes – colour, surface, structure, texture and pattern. This second edition includes: · case studies and interviews with insight into visual research and development from revered practising designers, including Dries Van Noten and Reiko Sudo; · Spotlight sections offer historical or cultural perspectives on each point in the process; and, · new coverage of material investigation, colour analysis, presentation and curation, as well as advice on IP and copyright. You'll also be guided through the three stages of textile design where you will: · generate your idea; · work to develop it; and, · create your developed idea in the studio. By engaging with this approach, and exploring new ways of seeing ordinary things through the key themes, you'll learn to create incredible effects in your textile design.

Edinburgh Weavers was one of the most important textile companies of the twentieth century. Alastair Morton, visionary art director of the company, commissioned a remarkable series of textiles from leading British artists. This study traces his wide-ranging career and records the history of Edinburgh Weavers and the glorious textiles it produced.

An essential sourcebook of prints from a key fashion decade. The 1950s was the decade when an analytical approach to design, with a lightness and freshness, combined with whimsical imagery and idiosyncratic subject matter. Showcasing hundreds of print designs, this book celebrates the heyday of postwar fashion design. From Lucienne Day and Robert Stewart to Maija Isola of Marimekko, the designs and influences of the print icons of the time are all covered. In addition to finished prints, the book contains exclusive illustrations and original artworks. The major themes of the period are explored, including: narrative and novelty; abstraction, exploring the distorted and attenuated forms used in print; artistic licence and the influence of contemporary art on fashion print; and finally kinetic prints that capture the influence of the era’s ‘mobiles, doodles and spasms’. Each short chapter introduction is followed by a range of illustrations with captions to give provenance and relevance, making this a unique sourcebook for contemporary designers and students.