Dynamic linear patterns inspired by the RA’s wonder staircase

Designs on a line

Google “RA staircase” and you’re in for a treat, as this screen shot of the results page from Google images shows.

It’s the Royal Academy’s staircase, transformed last year into a huge linear graphic by this super-striped installation from artist Jim Lambie, drawing visitors up into the RA’s 2015 Summer Exhibition.

The self adhesive vinyl candy-striped confection teases your senses as it pulls your eye one way while your feet go the other.

“Hmm… how hard would it be to do that with wallpaper?…” somebody mused out loud, and pretty soon we’d pulled out a roll of Jelly Tot Stripe from Scion, along with an extremely sharp craft knife and a straight edge and got to work.

Of course it turned out to be not that easy at all, not least because as you cut across a stripe at an angle you get a much wider line at the edge. So you can only get a continuous line if you join your papers at 45 degrees, and with the paper we chose, the best we could do was this (rather gorgeous, admittedly) rectangle. A bit like a self-framing piece of pop art.

Luckily for us, Cole & Son have already thought this through, and their Labyrinth performs geometric miracles to guide you through its maze.

Mini Moderns P-L-U-T-O is (of course) out of this world, taking us into orbit, navigating through a meteorite belt or two and delivering us safely on planet groovy.

And Osborne & Little bring us back down to Earth (of course) via the mountainous zigzag peaks of their lovely, deco-inspired Astoria.

And to think it all started with just a simple line. I wonder where the RA will take us this year? Watch this space…