elements of textile print design: tessellations

I have been pondering about this particular topic for a while now, given that it is important to delve a bit in it while delivering introductory lectures and demos in repeat pattern. The general perception seems to be that tessellations are a very intricate form of design. The fact of the matter is that some of them can be impossibly complicated, but in terms of repeat pattern design, they tend to be rather simple and straight forward.

The immediate reference most purists think of whenever tessellations are mentioned are the  incredible mosaics in the ancient cultures of the Middle East. An excellent example of this influence is found in Granada, Spain.

Mosaic from the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain

The mosaics at the Alhambra inspired the tessellation work of M.C. Escher, the ultimate Shape Meister according to a more contemporary school of thought.

M. C. Escher, Pegasus, tessellation 105

Of course, those involved in the textile arts will think of tessellations in terms of quilting patterns.

Madeleine quilt (detail) by Kate Busby.

What most of us refer to as a design unit (the bread and butter in the discipline of textile print design) is, in reality, a simple tessellation unit. Though in printed fabrics the outline that defines the design unit is usually not evident, the tessellation is truly stipulated by the limiting lines of said unit (horizontal and vertical) within a precisely measured coordinate system.

From left to right: 1-Tessellation unit or design unit (established as a straight repeat, a.k.a. square repeat, a.k.a. side repeat, a.k.a. full drop repeat). 2-Design units in repeat, side, by side, by side, by side. Tiled or tessellated on the horizontal and vertical planes (tessella-Latin-tile).

Design units printed in repeat without the defining outline, except for that at the top left, which references the limiting lines of the tessellation [the example is another variation of pears, ©ana galindo for inkfibre].

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Sting's Desert Rose song with Cheb Mami (from his album Brand New Day, 1999) has what I always perceived as an "Alhambra" sound (that is my immediate Middle East reference, though it is in Spain). A true tessellation of talent and cultures.

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Reference material worth your while:

• Book, Escher on Escher by M.C. Escher / Translated from the Dutch by Karin Ford
  A glimpse into Escher's work in his own words. Succinct, eloquent, enlightening, I found it quite reminiscent of Italo Calvino's Six Memos For The Next Millenium. An excellent reminder of why we want to pay attention to detail and why we want to create something remarkable. There is a Toronto connection.

  

• Blog post by George Woideck, click here.