Memphis co-founder Nathalie du Pasquier's un-serious book of drawings

Nathalie Du Pasquier is a figure who seems to leave a trail of intrigue behind her everywhere she goes. This is largely because, as a founding member of the Memphis group (an Italian design and architecture group founded in Milan in 1981) she’s been an unstoppable force in shaping the design world as we know it, colours, angles, ideas and all. But it’s also partly because her work is just so much fun.

Going boldly in colours few people would dream of picking up, she designed furniture, textiles, carpets and objects, bringing her unique perspective to a range of fields, before turning her hand to painting. Her new book however, entitled Don’t Take These Drawings Seriously, focuses on the hundreds of drawings she has created over the course of her career, from simple, almost primitive patterns in geometric shapes and repetitive forms to childlike figures in decorative rooms. They’re full of joy, and as the title reminds us, they exist purely for the sake of it, which is the best kind of artistic project we can possibly imagine.

Don’t Take These Drawings Seriously by Nathalie Du Pasquier is available now from PowerHouse Books.