More is more!

Ornamentation and decoration of designed objects and spaces is a current hot topic in publishing. Wallpaper by Lachlan Blackley is a new arrival at UPPERCASE. In contrast to the Florence Broadhurst book (see review below), this book is a compilation of very current work.

The revival of ornament has seen a resurgence of interest in wallpaper design. Wallpaper is back, but this time it is different. No longer used 360 degrees to cover cracks and imperfections in crumbling plasterwork, wallcoverings are now a means of expressing individuality. The new wallpaper is blurring the division between art and interior decoration. Graphic designers and illustrators are playing with scale and using walls as their canvases, while fashion and textile designers are transferring their fabric prints to paper.

The book offers some great inspiration for designers and illustrators: the artwork and ideas are impressive for their scale, ingenuity, and obsessive-compulsiveness.

Available at UPPERCASE  $52.00 

A fabulous reference, Twentieth-Century Pattern Design is organized by decade. It has recently been released as a softcover.

Focusing on surface pattern in the home, [the author] draws frequent parallels to the worlds of fashion, packaging, and graphics and explores the interrelationship between painting and pattern design. The result is a book that is as inspiring as it is informative. Twentieth-Century Pattern Design is an invaluable resource for modern design enthusiasts and historians, collectors, and interior and graphic designers.

This is one of those books that you'll refer to again and again.

Available at UPPERCASE  $45.95

While we're on the subject, here's a must-see wallpaper company that makes gorgeous hand-printed papers: Nama Rococo. (Someday, I'd love to have an exhibition of pattern and paper and this company would be first on the list!)