Jude Stewart

Why is the sky blue? Why is pink for girls and blue for boys? Why do prisoners wear orange? And why can one colour have so many opposite meanings? If lobsters are a red emblem of privilege how is it that a red flag can also be the banner of Communism? Jude Stewart, a design expert and writer, digs into this rich subject with gusto, telling her favourite stories about colour as she discovers what it can really mean. Each chapter is devoted to a colour, opening with an infographic map that links such unlikely pairings as fox-hunting and flamingos. From there on in, you're plunged into a kaleidoscopic tour of the universe that encompasses everything from wildflowers to Japanese warriors. The links between them reveal hidden realities that you never would have suspected. Roy G. Biv is a reference and inspiration for everyone, with sidebars and graphics galore. The aim is simple: to tantalise and inform, and to make you think about colour in a completely new way.

We wake up in the morning and put on our striped socks and our plaid shirts, sit down to breakfast at a gingham tablecloth, perhaps eyeing the wallpaper with its fleur-de-lis. Patterns are everywhere--yet they can go unnoticed. In fact, every pattern is a story, a surprisingly deep trove of historical information and cultural associations. Jude Stewart, author of ROY G. BIV: An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Color, brings her same sprightly sense of humor, sparkling personality, and roving curiosity to this cultural history of patterns. From camouflage to keffiyeh, plaid to paisley, slipping out of the Carmelites' scandalously striped mantle and into an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny yellow polka-dot bikini, Patternalia plumbs the backstories of individual patterns, the surprising kinks in how each developed, the parallels between patterns natural and invented, and the curious personalities these patterns accrue over time. Boldly designed by Oliver Munday and cleverly cross-referenced, Patternalia is pure pattern pleasure: a beautiful object and a dazzling read that will appeal to anyone interested in design, fashion, and the cultural history buzzing all around us.