I’ve got you a Christmas present… I managed to get my hands on an early review copy, kindly supplied by the publisher, of the new Print & Pattern book: Nature, and I’m gonna give you a little preview to get you salivating!

The book is coming out in January 2017 out now. This is the latest book in the series, based on the super popular Print & Pattern blog run by Marie Perkins (aka Bowie Style).

Let’s get the basic facts out of the way first:

• Author: Bowie Style (aka Marie Perkins)
• 304 beautiful and shiny pages
• 430 bright and colourful illustrations
• 101 amazing artists and designers featured
• Costs £19.99 and you can order from Amazon
• Published by Laurence King [ISBN: 9781780679150]

Ok so, who in their right mind, at least in the world of surface pattern design, doesn’t love a good book full of colourful and gorgeous patterns? Well, I do, and I wasn’t surprised to see that, once again, Marie has managed to curate a wonderful collection of prints and patterns from some of the best artists and designers around.

There have been 4 books already published in this series: Print & Pattern 1, 2, Kids and Geometric. This time the theme is the natural world and all its wonderfulness. So if you’re into flowers, leaves, trees, little insects and woodland creatures then you’re in for a treat…

Since the very first art forms were created, people have been inspired to illustrate the marvels of the natural world. The colours, patterns and beauty found in nature provide endless sources of inspiration for designers, from flowers and trees to leaves, grasses, insects, pebbles and feathers. – Marie Perkins

If you own any of the other books in the series, you can expect the same excellent quality, format and clean and simple layout. Not much has changed there, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

There are 1 or 2 spreads per designer/artist, with a good length bio and a few generously sized illustrations, each with their own caption. If you’re anything like me and like to read bits and bobs about the artists, you’ll appreciate the info included. As always it’s incredibly inspirational to read the designers’ bios, their workflows and who they have worked for/with, not to mention their own sources of inspiration.

The designers featured are from all around the world, with the majority being from Europe and North America. We can find the usual suspects among them: Bonnie Christine, Brie Harrison, Carolyn Gavin, Elizabeth Olwen and Helen Dardik are only a few of the names that some of you might recognise.

Documenting the work of the best designers in the field, the book is an invaluable source of reference and inspiration for surface designers, designer-makers and craftspeople, graphic designers, illustrators and textile designers. – Marie Perkins

The book showcases a great range of pattern making techniques such as watercolour, gouache, screen printing, block printing, felt-tip pens, ink, collaging or solely digital.

One thing that is quite noticeable in this issue is that hand-drawn motifs, texture and watercolour keep cropping up page after page. Definitely a lot more than in the other Print & Pattern books… It might be because of the nature of the book (boom boom). Jokes aside, I think this reflects the trend we keep seeing everywhere of going back to the handmade, to our more artisanal skills.

Motif styles range from the simplified and very graphic to the painterly and more lifelike. I think it’s safe to say that flowers and leaves are the main attraction, being the most abundant. Colour also has a very strong role here, so expect an explosion of it!

Particular styles and motifs may change with taste and fashion, but nature remains the most enduring source of inspiration for designers. – Marie Perkins

So the conclusion is: this Print & Pattern book delivers, as all its predecessors did, and every page is a surprise and a delight. If you love pattern and colour, this is a must-have!

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