Nature patterns
How Nature's Systems Are Shaping Our Future Projects And Processes
Discover how our increasing understanding of nature’s systems and interconnectivity is shaping the direction of PATTERNITY. Our co-founders Anna and Grace discuss the deeper purpose that can be derived from our connection to the natural world…
Having dedicated ourselves since 2009 to the research and understanding of pattern, we are more aware than ever about our connection with nature, as individuals, as an organisation and as a movement.
Digging deeper with our research, we’ve sought to use our platform to highlight the pressing ecological and social issues of our times. This was a fundamental drive behind the re-launch of our website in 2018, our gratitude journal Be Great, Be Grateful: A Gratitude Journal for Positive Living – and our ongoing events and experiences.
Defining our deeper purpose based on our connection to the natural world…
From a surface design perspective, whilst we maintain a love of bold black and white pattern, our projects on a simple level seek to take inspiration from nature. From climbing walls inspired by the patient evolution of mountains and geological formations over time, to fabric collaborations with sustainable weave specialists inspired by the elements that shape the world around us.
Working this into our events, we’re now taking our approach to city-based workshops and translating it into forests, mountains, beaches and parks around the world and teaching people how to learn from nature’s systems to look, feel and experience life more meaningfully and sustainably. This is new and galvanising for us. These outdoor experiences encourage participants to embrace the nourishment of nature – the highest creative force and our ultimate inspirer.
Exploring creativity, gratitude and flow through the culture of our design business…
As a company that specialises in design we are often thinking about how and why things work. Whether that’s our external environment, the inner workings of our own bodies or the wider system and relationships of which we are all a part. It’s often only when a system breaks down or something is taken away from us that we realise how grateful we were for it, how much it made our lives effortlessly flow and perhaps how much we took it for granted.
Our understanding of pattern and nature connectivity goes right into the way we are creating our culture at PATTERNITY, from working in a studio surrounded by plants and holding barefoot walking meetings in the park, to tuning into our own inner monthly cycles as women in business to aid our collective understanding, compassion and creativity. Inspired by the natural systems like the seasons and the cycles of the moon we take days off each month to rest and restore.
As we’ve begun to feel more sensitive and in tune with our deep connectivity to the natural world we’re realising more and more how the systems of which we are a part feel increasingly unsustainable, we’ve welcomed the process of understanding how to translate this emerging awareness into the pattern of our own organisation. What materials are we using to create our products? Does the world even need more products today? How can we translate our design thinking and creativity into more meaningful projects that can really shape our world? What does sustainability mean within the context of PATTERNITY and how can we sustain our creativity, innovation and purpose both as a business and as individuals within a larger eco-system.
On vulnerability and creating a sustainable business model and process that sets an example for others to follow
The more we’ve learned, the more we’ve needed to reach out to our ever-expanding community of sustainably minded friends, colleagues and collaborators. We’ve been honoured to have created partnerships with several organisations such as Way of Nature, Bio Leadership, the Right Project and 1% for the Planet. We’ve had to be honest, vulnerable and state our intention that we want to move into a more sustainable way of being – and we’ve been honoured to have connected and felt supported by specialists including philosopher and systems thinker Robert Rowland Smith, journalist and nature writer Jessie Brinton, menstruation mentor Mandy Adams, systems thinker Fritjof Capra, author Jeremy Lent and shamanic coach Catherine Bjorksten.
These people and many others are helping us to manage our growth and define our purpose amidst the complex changing patterns of our times and helping us to see how we can balance the commercial needs of running a business with the increasingly obvious understanding that the world needs to start finding new ways to do business.
