Synopses & Reviews
Students, designers, and craftspeople who want to create their own abstract patterns and designs will find this profusely illustrated guide one of the best books available on the subject. After an introductory chapter dealing with the geometric basis of design, the author goes on to discuss implements and their use (T-square, compass, dividers, ruling pen, etc.), borders, textile patterns, nature study, and treatment.
Over 380 illustrations include many diagrams, designs for title pages, border patterns, allover patterns, textile patterns, and historical examples from an extraordinary number of cultures and periods: Assyrian stone carvings, Greek and Roman jewelry, 18th-century English silverwork, and more. Thorough and comprehensive, Abstract Design and How to Create It will be an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to learn the principles and techniques of creating nonrepresentative designs.
Synopsis
Profusely illustrated guide covers geometric basis of design, implements and their use, borders, textile patterns, nature study, and treatment. Over 380 illustrations include historical examples from many cultures and periods.
Synopsis
Geometric basis of design, implements and their use, borders, textile patterns, nature study, and treatment. Over 380 illus.
Synopsis
Profusely illustrated guide covers geometric basis of design, implements and their use, borders, textile patterns, nature study and treatment. 383 illustrations include many diagrams, designs for title pages, border patterns, allover patterns, textile patterns and historical examples from many cultures and periods. Clear and well written, this volume will be an invaluable resource.
Table of Contents
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ILLUSTRATIONS
I INTRODUCTORY
Object of book
Early essays in design
Licence and restraint
Early obsession as to originality
Invention versus arrangement
The geometric basis
Geometric influence in pattern
II IMPLEMENTS AND THEIR USE
Methodical procedure
Geometrical drawing
"Implements, the T-square"
The set-square
Use of the 45° set-square
In defining mitres
In dividing surfaces
In formation of the octagon
Use of the 60° set-square
In formation of the triangle
The hexagon
The diamond pattern
The hexagonal net
Mitral angles
Of hexagons and octagons
Of the trefoil and quatrefoil
Of concentric curves meeting parallel straight lines
Borders of circular and elliptic shapes
Flexed curves
Measurement and division of lines
The dividers
Division by trial
Division by bi-section
Method of division of a line into any number of equal parts
The compass
Spring bows
The large adjustable compass
Pencil and pen
The ruling-pen
Drawing ink
Tracing-paper and its employment
Rubbing down a design
Transfer-paper
Transferring a design
The transfer-point
III. THE TREATMENT OF THE BORDER
Appreciation and historical employment
Use of the border
Structural suggestion
Analogous to mouldings
Enrichment of mouldings
Treatment
The unit
Modification at angles
Continuous patterns
The key or fret
The evolute
The undulate
Consistency in growth suggesion
Bi-symmetrical treatment
Accentuation of corners
Freely arranged growth
Material for design
Typographical examples
Lettering
Subsidiary borders
Spacing of lines
The undulate line
Conjectural origin
Influence of material
Early jewellery and pottery
Wrought iron
Influence of tools
Wood carving
The gouge
Thimble pattern in Jacobean wood-carving
English Renaisance treatment of mouldings
Old work
Early craftsmen and tradition
The professional designer
Division of labour
Infraction of craft limitations
Imitation
Greek anthemion ornament
Painted and carved
Influence on later ornament
Technical influence in cross-stitch embroidery
Details of borders
The fret ornament
Procedure
Progressive patterns of borders in which the 45° set -square is employed in conjunction with horizontal and vertical lines
Description
Illustrations
Patterns result of 60° set-square
Description
Illustrations
Patterns in which both set-squares are employed
Description
Illustrations
Patterns formed of segments of circles
Description
Illustrations
Combinations of curved and straight lines
Description
Illustrations
Patterns on the undulate line
Description
Illustrations
IV. TEXTILE PATTERNS
Repetition
Interest of surface
Plaiting and weaving
Juxtaposition of lines
Importance of straight line
The unit
Geometric basis
The Rectangular and diamond plans
The drop pattern
The diaper pattern
Patterns based on squares
Lattice or trellis patterns
Pattern composed of arcs of circles
Pattern composed of arc of circles and straight lines
Fret patterns
Moresque pattern
Counter-change pattern
Patterns based on the octagon
Counter-change pattern
Arabian all-over
Patterns based on the hexagon
Patterns based on circles
Patterns based on circles
Persian pattern based on circles
Sicilian pattern based on circles
"Types of pattern common to textiles, woven and printed"
The all-over
The net pattern
The scale pattern
The stripe
Sprig and spot patterns
The trellis
Border designs arraned as all-overs
Treatment in designs for tapestry
Designs for hangings
Designs for wall-papers
Chinese papers
Block and roller printing
Opaque nd transparent colour
Over-printing
Description of textile patterns
Illustrations
V. NATURE STUDY AND TREATMENT
Object of Nature study
Selection and treatment
Setting up the subject
Record of growth and development
Consistency to growth and type
Use of studies
Conventional renderings
Elimination and simplification
Process consideration
Use of colour
Self-colour
Harmony
Primary and complementary colour
Treatment of colour scheme
Opaque colours
Drawing for reproduction
Designs for book decoration
Line and half-tone blocks
Method of enlargement
Diagonal method
Indicating required reduction
Thickening of lines
Cross-hatching
POSTSCRIPT
Hand-loom weaving
"Needlework, cross-stitch embroidery"
Sampler
Swedish peasant weaving
Example of Arabian design and workmanship