What's New Review

Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design

This book is by far the best book on design that I have come across in some time. 

The introduction of the book starts, “At five years of age, I stood above the clouds at sunset atop a mountain with my father. He told me to never forget the moment. I never have.” And I was hooked. “By recognizing the principles, patterns, and processes of nature, you can create intuitively elegant and aesthetic design at will rather than by chance.” 

The book is divided in three sections: Memory: Remembering What We Know; Matter: Understand and Create; and Motion: The Experience Enhanced.  This is a book I could not put down, and I read it from cover to cover.  I still find myself picking it up at different moments and drifting off into re-reading sections, like “Wabi-sabi and Grunge” (which in itself is food for thought) or “Using Nature’s Elements in Design.”

Macnab’s skillful weave of compelling text and imagery, coupled with quotes, profiles of guest designers, and various exercises, strikes just the right balance to convey the subject matter and provide the reader with a better understanding of how to incorporate nature’s shapes and patterns into meaningful design.

This book is bursting with nearly 300 pages of stimulating, provocative information written by a person passionate and knowledgeable about her craft. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and it is an absolute keeper.  No matter what your present design skill, chances are you will benefit from reading it.

Color Play: Easy Steps to Imaginative Color in Quilts

Yummy Yellows. Gorgeous Greens. Blissful Blues. Rambunctious Reds. These are just some of juicy chapter headings for the 24 colors that Joen thoroughly explains and illustrates with computer-generated patterns, gorgeous quilts, and nature photographs. Learn about the diversity of color and how to create and control depth, luminosity, luster, shadow, highlights, and transparency in your work. A visual delight and timeless reference, I highly recommend this book.

Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter, Improve Any Quilt with Easy-to-Follow Lessons

$24.95, 80 pps, C&T Publishers

“Creativity is nebulous, but the one thing we absolutely know is that the discipline of practice will increase your mastery.” If looking for a how-to on increasing creativity for application in quiltwork, this book will help guide the way.

The full-color book doesn’t overwhelm, but rather guides the reader through a series of lessons designed to “wake up” the right side of the brain (said to be responsible for the “nonverbal, spatial, creative intelligence”) and work with the left side of the brain (language) to “make great quilts with wonderful color and eye-catching compositions.” It’s not the reading of the book that will magically develop your skills, but rather the doing of the exericses that will help you better “see,” discover your unique style, and apply that style to your quiltmaking.

Lessons include various design and color exercises, including contour drawing, cutting, and stitching; composing with line and shape; and various value and color exercises. They are the “tools” that will help stimulate your creative growth. The book concludes with section of quilt artists sharing their experiences along their own creative road. If you are thinking about developing your creative skills, this book is an excellent place to start.