Drawings by hand are the basis for Christie van der Haak pattern designs. Almost meditatively she distracts from the bustle of everyday life and focuses on the design that eventually becomes patterns for art prints, wallpaper, woven textiles and even buildings. She is famous for her creative use of colour, but also her black-and-white patterns really communicate. Christie’s pattern designs connect to the philosophy of William Morris who, in the nineteenth century, reacted to the ugliness of mass production and said about his designs that ‘no pattern should be without some sort of meaning’. They also relate very strongly to our present lives in which we are flooded with information and are visually orientated. We almost split ourselves up to be able to digest all the simultaneous information. In Christie van der Haak’s patterns, the viewer can also get lost, depending on the way he or she looks at them. With real focus, there is a world to discover. A fantasy in which to drown or an imagination to dream of. New Citizen Design and Christie van der Haak co-operate on a line of pattern-designed products of which the vinyl Christie’s Carpet is the first. Christie’s great wish is to open up to a wider public through design: in this case, art made reproducible.
