The Patternity Manifesto: Ann Murray and Grace Winteringham explain their passion for patterns

Patternity was formed four years ago by art director and photographer Anna Murray and surface and textile designer Grace Winteringham. The organisation specialises in the exploration and application of pattern and comprises a research archive, a design studio and an events and education programme. Here’s why they do what they do…

Patterns are something you come across every day; you wear them, you walk over them, you even eat, drink and think them, but it’s unlikely they command too much of your attention. Patternity believe that a shared awareness and understanding of life’s patterns can have both positive and powerful results.

Our online archive exists as an open window to share a vision of encouraging a heightened perception and engagement with our surroundings. Crucially it is designed to serve as a platform to showcase work, blur boundaries and spread something inspiring and worthwhile.

Carefully-curated visuals of pattern coincidences narrate stories that remind us to take note, grounded by the belief that an awareness of pattern has the power to positively engage us with our environments and each other. It’s a celebration of the patterns that surround us daily, but are so often overlooked.

Patternity’s central philosophy is to encourage a more mindful awareness of the world around us – looking up, down and around – from the shadows cast through railings on the pavement, to ripples in the sand, from giant tower blocks to microscopic follicles. Pattern is inherent in all of us, it’s everywhere we go and it’s in everything we do.

From art to anthropology, engineering to the environment, patterns can be found in literally everything, and we can learn a lot about the world and what’s in it from them. When we examine patterns of behaviour and those of our genetic makeup and the mind, it becomes clear that pattern is a universal and powerful language.

So can the way we look at the smaller details enhance our understanding of the bigger picture? If we visualise the unseen, can it drive innovation? Does being more mindful make us happier and healthier? And can challenging our perception of the everyday positively affect the world around us? Patternity believes it can.