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.
  

seeing red

A deluge of red, that is what happened on Sunday at the studio. After pondering a lot on the matter, (red has not been part of my palette in quite a while), I decided to print some tea towels in this colour, given that a lot of the feedback reflected on the absence of red, which obviously raised a [red-ha!] flag.
When receiving feedback, it is our absolute responsibility as designers/artists/makers to edit the information that is coming our way, after all, even though we are not taking dictation, we should always be genuinely interested in what our audience has to say. So, if one person mentions this colour is necessary, you take note of that, but when at different times numerous people tell you to seriously consider it, you pay close attention. After all, the "market is speaking", and you want the product to do well (this would be a completely different conversation if we were referring to a fine art piece). In my experience this is not an easy colour to work with, mainly because it has to be the "right" one. Fortunately, the "right" hue had already been mixed, as I had originally planned to include it in the pillows colour ways for Talavera.

In preparation for last Sunday, and considering I had no umbrella to help me through the wet weather we've been getting, I treated myself to a beautiful red marimekko umbrella, and allowed myself a few contemplative moments under the cover of such fabulous redness.

Detail: marimekko red kivet umbrella.

The first two images (for Antigua) are for Roohi. She very articulately delivered a solid discourse as to why red needed to be included.

From left to right: 1-Antigua collection, main design to the right. 2-Antigua second coordinate. 3-Talavera in red.

REGISTRATION--PART DEUX
The matter of registration was brought up not too long ago (see post for Monday, 15 October 2012). The second system was put to the test on Sunday, rendering excellent results. By drawing a straight line (on tape) on the drop cloth, the registration marks were easy to follow, with no gaps or overlaps in sight. Four yards of gorgeousness.

The song "ojalá que llueva café", perfectly captures the sounds of "Talavera in red" in the form of an incomparable "son huasteco". An excellent cover by Café Tacuba from their album Avalancha De Éxitos, 1997 (the original song is by Juan Luis Guerra). Enjoy!

 

work in progress: new colours and registration printing

COLOUR
Thursday last week I had the fortune of having three amazing women visit the studio, such excellent friends. I was really moved by their genuine interest and enthusiastic feedback to what has been produced so far. A lot was said regarding colour and trending, and how important it is to do the research around the latter to gain insight and better understanding of what may be ephemeral and what may be timeless. I presented them with four colour alternatives, generating a most candid  and engrossing conversation regarding hues, personal preferences and how Pantone holds an important part in the design vernacular--A had the Pantone forecast for 2013 handy on her phone screen. After much consideration and editing, we decided on three colours, two of which have already been mixed and tested.

Red is the colour that I am the most intrigued by since I really don't use it in my work, yet it is part of the new palette.

PRINT 
The weekend provided the time for registration printing. There are two important issues that make registration somewhat difficult on the personal level: One, there is no registration bar on the table. Two, I'm very short, and the table is somewhat tall, therefore, large format printing is not an option given that I print on my own, and my arm span is not adequate.

So, I have devised a couple of systems that I think could work for railroaded registration printing. For those new to the trade, regular registration printing happens on a perpendicular [imaginary] line in relation to the selvedges (the finished edges) of the cloth. A railroaded print is parallel to these selvedges, therefore, it allows the [not very tall] printer to be close to the edges of both fabric and table, and with the use of a reasonably sized screen, printing becomes accessible.

For the first printing system, tee plates were attached to the screen (F helped me), to create a natural corner edge between the screen and the table, facilitating the printing process while sliding the screen to the registration markers*. It worked fine, but the table edges are a bit uneven, generating an off-register of a few millimetres, which may not sound like much, but it creates substantial gaps or overlaps in the print.

It is gratifying to see this design on the table. Talavera has been greatly and very recently transformed, but its genesis dates to  (I think) 1996. It was first doodled during a history lesson, no disrespect intended, a lot of us focus better while idly drawing.

This week I will try the second system, evaluate the results and resume production. The only downside so far for these methods is waste of substrate at the centre, easily resolved if the printer is taller and has longer arms.

*A great and immediate resource for repeat pattern design is Kim Kight's book: A Field Guide To Fabric Design.