I devised a quarterly book club subscription kit called Pattern and Prose featuring classic novels told through the lens of beautiful surface patterns. Historically, patterns have been used not just as decoration, but as functional elements. For instance, patterning in illuminated manuscripts helped evoke contemplative states in readers. I wanted to use patterns in a similar way to enhance more modern stories and to help make classic novels more engaging and accessible to the average reader. After interacting with my patterns, many people have remarked that for the first time ever they feel excited to read these classic tales.
To create each pattern, I reread each novel and carefully curated a selection of objects, plot points, and motifs to weave into the illustration. The theme of each novel also inspired the main color choice for each pattern, with blues signifying the ocean, red signifying evil, yellow signifying sickness, and purple signifying dignity and referencing the novel’s title. I varied the pattern repeat structure for each pattern to achieve a visually interesting series.
The Pattern and Prose guide book is the keystone of the book club kit. It is an illustrated guide that spans the entire year with one chapter devoted to each of the four novels within the series. Each chapter is full of discussion questions to spark book club conversations, activities inspired by the events of the novel, and illustrated puzzles and pattern keys to increase engagement with the patterns and encourage readers to decipher what each item in the pattern represents from the novel.
Every three months, Pattern and Prose subscribers receive a boxed book club kit in the mail with the featured book for that quarter. Each kit comes with the Pattern and Prose guide book as well as themed bookmarks, book jackets, tote bags, and more, all decked out in the featured novel’s signature color palette and pattern.
©2022 Danielle Ridolfi