Lesley Jackson

Robin Day, the creator of the best-selling Polypropylene chair,was renowned as a furniture designer, but also excelled in many other fields over the years, including exhibition design, graphics and product design. Lucienne Day, an outstanding textile designer, gained early recognition with Calyx, her acclaimed furnishing fabric for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and she also designed stunning wallpapers, ceramics and carpets. Pioneers of "Contemporary" design during the 1950s and 1960s, and jo int design consultants to the John Lewis Partnership from 1962 to 1987, Robin and Lucienne Day,who both died in 2010,were legendary figures with an international reputation. Illustrated with the Days' own archive material and drawing on unique in-dep th interviews with the designers, this landmark book provides a comprehensive survey of their careers - an invaluable record of a lifetime of remarkable achievement.

Pattern design flourished throughout the 20th century. From Art Nouveau at the end of the 19th century to computer-generated digital images at the turn of the Millennium, each new generation had their own distinctive approach to pattern design. Tracing the creative cross-fertilization between fashion and interiors, this invaluable book provides a chronological account of the development of pattern design. Highlighting the decisive trends that emerged in each decade, the book draws attention to the achievements of progressive manufacturers and ground-breaking designers, charting the emergence of a series of pattern design superpowers in various countries at different moments in time. From Anni Albers at the Bauhaus in the 1920s and Lucienne Day for Heal's in the 1950s, to Maija Isola for Marimekko in the 1960s, this book combines stunning photographs with informative text to inspire new flights of creativity in pattern design.