The Complete Pattern Directory: 1500 Designs from All Ages and Cultures

If you create patterns for graphic design this is the book for you. This book covers so many different types of designs, styles and time periods. This is one of my favorite books for pattern making, I always find inspiration in this book. I can't recommend this book enough, not to mention it's a beautiful book.

This is a beautiful book. It’s big. You can use it for flower pressing so dual purpose. But if you are researching pattern history or just love a beautiful book, you will want this.

If you like textile patterns this is the book for you. Page after page of wonderful patterns. And it’s a super chunky book!

Love this book. So many patterns to see and designers to learn about.

This is a beautiful and deeply inspiring book. Physically, it is impressive: thick, heavy, well printed, with quality pages and a tremendous number of designs. It is a feast for the eyes. For anyone interested in pattern, ornament, textiles, decorative arts, or visual inspiration, it is a wonderful reference. I found it calming just to look through the patterns. There is something almost meditative about seeing so many organized designs from different periods and styles. The organization is also very useful. The book includes indexes by designer, country of origin, and date, which makes it easier to locate older designs and separate historical material from more modern work. I also appreciate the enormous amount of work it must have taken to gather, identify, arrange, and categorize 1,500 patterns without the book feeling repetitive. That said, the book has one major shortcoming: the subtitle says “1500 Designs from All Ages and Cultures,” but the coverage does not really feel global. It is heavily weighted toward Europe, especially the United Kingdom. There are many UK entries, several pages of them in the country index, and a great deal of Western European material overall. But major design cultures seem underrepresented or absent. I could not find meaningful coverage of China, Japan, Korea, India, or Southeast Asian traditions. I saw very little from Latin America, with Mexico represented only minimally. Eastern Europe also seems thinly covered, with little or nothing that I could find for countries such as Poland or Hungary. The most surprising omission for me is Italy. Given Italy’s enormous importance in decorative art, textiles, fashion, architecture, Roman design, Renaissance design, Venetian design, Florentine design, Sicilian pattern traditions, majolica, ornament, and historic craftsmanship, I was very surprised not to find Italy represented in the country index. Milan and Rome alone are central to fashion and design history, and cities and regions such as Florence, Venice, Sicily, Brescia, and Lombardy have deep traditions in art, ornament, textiles, metalwork, architecture, and decorative culture. Italy is not a minor footnote in the history of pattern and design, so its absence is difficult to understand. This does not ruin the book. It is still a beautiful, valuable, and inspiring volume. But buyers should know that despite the subtitle, this is not a truly comprehensive survey of all world pattern traditions. It is better understood as a large, visually rich, mostly Western design reference with some wider cultural examples. I am very happy to own it, and I still recommend it as an excellent source of visual inspiration and as a reference for anyone interested in the study of textiles, pattern, ornament, and decorative arts. But I do wish the title had been more accurate, or that the book had included stronger coverage of Italy, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and other major design traditions.

Just fabulous! This book is an absolute beast! Photos are high quality and easy to study closely for inspiration. I adore the geometric pattern section especially.

If you’re on the fence about this book, I say go for it! It’s a beautifully printed book, filled cover to cover with color pictures of patterns both traditional and modern. While its title says it’s complete, as other reviewers have noted it’s not a tremendously multi-cultural book. That said, for the price point especially, it’s a very worthwhile spend for a pattern enthusiast or artist looking for inspiration. I am an artist and know I will return to this reference book again and again seeking inspiration for color combinations, motifs, etc. It’s just a lovely book and a useful reference.

I am a new surface pattern designer and I wanted to have a reference to look at for inspiration and ideas and this has been amazing. I reference it daily. Not only is this book HUGE and heavy it must weight 10 pounds, (you can get a nice workout with it for sure) but it is filled to the brim with information about the history of surface patterns and beautiful historical art. I love flipping thru to see color choices and motifs and usually can create something of my own after spending a few minutes feeling inspired by others work. I love that it is organized into categories like animals or abstract which can be helpful if I am looking for an idea in a specific area, but most of the time I just randomly will pick a page a start reading and flipping. It is a beautiful book worthy of a space on your coffee table or desk. My boyfriend loves it too, we both enjoy looking thru it regularly and keep it handy. We haven’t found a true home for this book yet because it is always out and being used. If you are looking for a reference guide this is it.

Beim zweiten Anlauf hat es funktioniert und ich bekam ein schönes Buch. Das erste war leider völlig auseinandergefallen und bestand tatsächlich nur aus losen Einzelteilen, was typisch zu sein scheint für dieses Patterndesignbuch. Auch andere Leser haben schon davon berichtet. Aber Ende gut, alles gut und das Weihnachtsgeschenk macht viel Freude. Der Umtauschdienst von Amazon war serviceorientiert, freundlich und schnell, einfach topp. Das Buch hätte ich mir im lokalen Buchladen lieber gekauft, weil ich gern local support mache, aber da war es leider nicht lieferbar. Nun zum Buch selbst: Die Fülle an Bildern, Informationen ist begeisternd, inspirierend, schlauer machend. Einfach nur genial!

Se lo compré a mi amiga pintora y le gustó mucho.

Pour ma culture personnelle superbe livre superbes couleurs et images

A superb book I keep picking it up to get inspiration for design and then can’t put it down. For colour matching it’s a great tool, it’s very visual and well written. Yes, inspirational and worth every penny.

Diretório visual riquíssimo. O livro pesado, que conta com impressão de altíssima qualidade, possui uma luva que protege a capa dura original texturizada. Com certeza um item obrigatório para profissionais das áreas de moda, design, estamparia e têxtil, principalmente para buscar referências e aumentar o repertório. Recomendo!