This Holiday season marks the debut of Trey Speegle’s exclusive line of home products for Anthropologie. The collection spans everything from pillows and plates to wallpaper and puzzles. This paint-by-number reproduction recently caught our eye, as it’s complexity is masked by clean lines and familiar shapes.  While more expensive than your average lock and key table challenge, it’s worth every penny if you’re in the market for a nature inspired challenge. Innovation’s not cheap when executed artfully and Speegle’s new line adds a refreshing spin to familiar family fun.

Back in March, we fell head over heels for Anthropologie’s budget-conscious in-store kitchen display.  This month’s no different as they tackle the back wall with checker-textured chalk. A brilliantly simple solution that adds umph to any wall. A can of chalkboard paint, chalk sticks and a sealant and you’re good to go- all for the cost of takeout.

By: Shayna Kulik

Who wouldn’t want to trek the globe in search of culture and innovation? Sounds amazing, right? Meet Keith Johnson, Anthropologie’s top cool hunter and craft curator, otherwise known as their buyer-at-large. From commissioning new works by unknown artists to uncovering dusty treasures, Johnson’s travels supply his company with the insane retail displays, trinkets and textiles we all wish we had in our own homes. Starting yesterday, viewers can live vicariously, as Man Shops Globe just premiered on the Sundance Channel.

Manhattan is home to some wonderful stores with even more magnificent window displays.  Designers often plan these fantastical arrangements months in advance, while visual teams work round the clock to get each window looking perfect, all in an attempt to lure customers off the street and into their stores.  While these displays double as public art for some, others follow these commercial relics quite religiously.  Here at Pattern Pulp, we’re fervent observers, and so we’ve begun photographing displays around the city, hoping to connect the dots whenever relevant themes and stories emerge.

And so, our first window round up:

Linear Stripes:

One of the most notable trends this season appears to be the continued use of bold color.  Be it a clothing rainbow or carefully aligned fixture spectrum, stores like The Gap, Anthropologie and J.Crew are doing more with less to [...]

Nothing signifies the start of summer more than an exposed screen.  While spring has come and gone (or so it seems), screen-inspired imagery continues to pop up throughout the marketplace, revealing that moods often relax when temperatures rise. “Screens are good for your spirit, they allow you to smell summer while sitting inside your apartment,” says Michelle Lawson, a Greenpoint artist and resident.  From the textured cover art of Anthropologie’s March catalog to this sheer needle point skirt we spotted at Mojo last week, both applications signify human interaction with this stiff window barrier.  Moving past literal translations, this Chanel suit, which was photographed for Bergdorf Goodman’s summer catalog, glorifies the concept of the grid, proving that trends can inspire and transcend all price points.

Matthew Tischler reveals the softer side of this [...]

In another lifetime I’d be designing window displays.  Not the corporate-sheik windows that come in a box over from China, but the ad hock masterpieces that merge high-end concepts with low budget materials.  One of the cheapest tools designers can use to showcase their ideas is perishable foods.  A mass market example of this can be found in M&M Premiums latest advertising efforts, where monochromatic sculptures reveal the latest flavors. Combining everyday materials for a more permanent display, Anthropologie sews bread loaves together with red shoe string to convey fashionable kitchenware in their Fifth Ave location.  

Continuing with the bread theme, Anthropologie creates a splash of texture contrasts, spiraling doughy slices against the back wall.  The resulting sun motifs are as clever as they are creative. Even Simon Doonan, Barney’s famed Window Dresser agrees [...]

When times are tough, retail environments pull out all the stops, forcing their design teams to get crafty in lieu of spending big bucks.  Sometimes these ad hock compilations are miserable collages and other times, wondrously creative ideas emerge.  Anthropologie’s artistic displays typically fall into the later of the two categories.  Inspired by Parisian wallpaper styles, the back wall of the retailer’s Fifth Avenue location pairs kitchen wares with floral chalk panels.  Using a $10 can of blackboard paint and a steady hand, Anthro’s budget illustrations are incredibly chic and can easily be translated to any wall in your home.

Inspiration: Floral Striping

When designing floral striping, all inspirational elements must be considered.  Here is a mood board that combines paralleling themes through the use of nature, Parisian craftsmanship and modern techinique.