17 Patterns is a new London-based company that sells British-made Luxury interior wall coverings, with fabrics and furnishings. I have to admit that I loved the originality of these designs as soon as I saw them. With my line of work, I am sent a lot of press releases and so it can be hard to grab my attention but this collection did just that. Their unique selling point is that they work closely with artists, illustrators and graphic designers to produce bespoke patterns. Their design process includes manipulating and restructuring specially commissioned artworks into a dynamic repeat and fusing inspiration from past and present using various design disciplines. Experimentation is a large part of their journey and has proven to be extremely successful in creating highly original pieces. Some of these processes include suspending rolls of paper from a window and allowing gravity to draw the paint downwards in a dripping motion, another is to leave a pattern outside to see how it will react to the outdoor elements, also layering multiple processes such as painting, photography and printing.
Once the pattern has been decided, the colour palette and fabric choice are then determined by a group of colour and fabric experts who work alongside the artists. As you will see, each design has a strong identity and uniqueness about it and it’s this, along with the classic palette choice, that allows most of the collection to work in a contemporary or classic interior.
The wallpaper above and below is called Love Leopard and is the debut piece by illustrator, artist and textile designer, Christina K. Her exploration into the wild uses traditional and digital mark-making techniques, and features love hearts, spot formations, along with peppered textured camouflage. This design is available in four colours.
The wallpaper below is called Cloudbusting and is the work of British contemporary artist, Paris’, and east London designer. Nosca Inc’s. Using unconventional techniques, the original painting was exposed to all of natures’ elements and left outside in the English Countryside, on doing this, they discovered that it enhanced the movement and texture within the watercolours. I think this piece is stunning as it has so much depth to it.
Cloudbusting is available in four colourways; Peach, Blue, Marsala and Grey (my favourite)
Jellyfish is the name given to the next design (below) and I absolutely love it! Designed by illustrator, artist and textile designer Christina K, the nautical wallpaper reminds me of colourful Eastern design, especially in the colourway below, it’s like a pattern you might expect to see on a Japanese Kimono. This collection comes in Ivory, Grey, Navy and Black.
The clever thing about Jellyfish is that it takes on a completely different feel in the other colourways. The grey has a more feminine touch with pretty pink accents and would look beautiful in the bedroom, whilst Ivory’s monochrome appearance would work in almost any room, especially a child’s bedroom.
Onto Dazzle, probably the most current when it comes to pattern due to its geo shapes. Available in Grey, White, Charcoal and Black, this wallpaper is not for the faint-hearted. My recommendation would be to use this pattern in a space to create visual impact. The darker colourway (below) is the easiest on the eye and thinking about it, would look quite cool beneath a dado rail in a hallway…
You can see that copper accents look gorgeous with the Charcoal design, other yellow metals and lighter shades of grey would also work well.
Herringbone is another pattern that has been increasingly popular over recent time, especially with floor coverings and textiles. This pattern ‘Brushed Herringbone’, began it’s life as a hand-painted artwork and was then manipulated with modern digital design techniques, another stunning design by Christina K.
Brushed Herringbone is available in four colours including; Grey, Blue, Marsala and Pink, I think my favourite is the grey (no surprise there!)
London Deco is a modern take on the well-loved Art Deco period and comes in four classic colours of Sage, Grey, Marsala and Peach. Designed by east London Designer Nosca Inc and artist, Paris, the pattern reflects familiar diamond shapes from this era along with pretty architectural symmetry.
I think the Marsala colourway is particularly beautiful when used as an upholstery fabric (below)
The description of ‘Spiral Chaos’ (below) is fabulous as it’s meant to represent a stunning visual interpretation of the designer’s chaotic, yet harmonious, thoughts. Nosca Inc’s has created a hectic pattern but one that is also very beautiful and this has been achieved because of the controlled and unified element of the repeated wallpaper.
Using the pattern for the wallpaper and the headboard is interesting approach and a clever way to create depth.
Another favourite is the Whirling Dervish Panel, the grey colourway reminds me of the London graffiti scene in Shoreditch, London.
The name ’17 Patterns’ is the mathematical classification of a two-dimensional repetitive pattern which was discovered by Evgraf Fedrow 1891. To see 17 Patterns full collection, visit their website.
