di Neisha Crosland

The designer Neisha Crosland sees pattern wherever she goes. Her extraordinary eye seeks out symmetry, order and structure in artefacts, buildings, paintings and, above all, in nature. A visual feast of colour, unexpected information and surprising personal stories, this delightful book celebrates Crosland’s remarkable talent. It takes the reader from the first spark of an idea to the finished product, exploring along the way myriad cultural pathways, and making unusual connections. Crosland’s design story begins with her standing as an art student in the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, and then travels through many continents and eras, from Mughal India to Moorish Spain, and from the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela to Jacobean England, before ending in Japan. There are tales of mankind’s earliest rituals alongside explorations of 16th-century court dresses, Baroque woodcarving, 17th-century shell-collecting and Russian Constructivist paintings. The text draws on conversations about pattern that Crosland has had with other design professionals as well as with musicians and mathematicians. There is fascinating technical detail, too, including wonderful examples of Crosland’s early work using weaving and printing methods that have now vanished because of commercial pressures on mills and manufacturers. Crosland also explores the ways in which a technique or colour can completely reinvent a design, and how the mood of a design changes when it is placed in a different interior or applied to another medium or product. This book is a loving tribute to the power and significance of pattern that will appeal to anyone who appreciates beautiful design.