Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild by Tricia Guild and Amanda Back is published by Acc Art Books. Designers Guild is an interiors company, specialising in using their own fabrics in various ways across a collection and combining them with selected accessories, to create the image or idea of a lifestyle. ‘Out of the blue’ is the Guild’s nineteenth book and contains stunning photography by James Merrell and others.
Over 50 years, Designers Guild has evolved from a single shop on London’s King’s Road to a global brand that has shaped the way we view colour, pattern and texture in our homes. ‘Out of the blue’ celebrates the creativity and passion of founder and visionary, Tricia Guild, and charts the company’s history and archive.
The book accompanies a now-extended exhibition, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Designers Guild, at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.
What I thought of the book
If the world of interior design on Instagram was a book, it would aspire to be ‘Out of the Blue’.
The hardback is thoughtfully designed and of great quality. Even the marbled blue, white and green endpapers are vibrant. Each section showcases one of Tricia Guild’s signature themes – including travellers’ tales; bold and brave and ‘not so square’. Photographs are accompanied by notes about interiors collections with dates and information for design enthusiasts and purchasers. For the rest of us, there are gorgeous interiors from around the world, all decorated with Designers Guild fabrics and wallpapers in signature jewel-bright tones. Tricia Guild’s love of colour, florals, patterns and using global influences shine from the pages. Not all of the schemes were to my taste, but I could recognise the beauty in all of them.
‘Out of the blue’ could be described as a coffee table book – with stunning pictures to flick through at your leisure – but it is much more than that. The first two chapters focus on the history, development and ethos of Designers Guild. These form a business manual which show the power of instinct, determination, collaboration and being passionately involved in every element of a company if you want it to succeed. Tricia Guild was a single woman, with no formal training and very little money or experience in the field when Designers Guild was becoming established. This means that feminism; psychology; marketing and fashion are also discussed. The book also is also partly her biography, as she works tirelessly to combine her fabrics with accessories and furniture created by other crafts-people, to take interior design in a new direction.
Through the numerous photographs in the later pages, the book becomes a travel guide; a reminder of the beauty found in nature; an artist’s guide to finding inspiration in everything around you and a sourcebook of fashion through the last fifty years. It would be equally at home on the shelves of a fashion or textiles student; a social historian or a reader like me, who loves colour and occasionally buys a home magazine for ideas about how to decorate. You might not have heard of Tricia Guild, but, through ‘Out of the blue’, you will recognise her influence in the magazine pictures, designs and decorative items around us. This book is a fascinating insight into how one woman’s vision has played such a large part in interior design for 50 years, and how interior design shapes the look of our lives, sometimes without us even realising it.
How much is the book and how can you buy it?
‘Out of the blue: Fifty years of Designers Guild’ is a beautifully produced, high-quality book. The hardback edition costs £30.00 and can be purchased via this link.
About the Authors
Tricia Guild was the co-founder of Designers Guild in the 1970s, with her then-husband Robin Guild. When Robin departed from the business, Tricia was determined to continue independently. Designers Guild succeeded based on her instinct, her mantra of creative growth and collaboration with a team of passionate creators. Tricia’s reputation has allowed her to work with artists such as Kaffe Fassett & Howard Hodgkin and titans of the business world including George Davies (founder of Next).
Designers Guild has won the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement twice, and Tricia was honoured with an OBE for services to interior design in 2008.
Amanda Back is Head of Communications and Public Relations Manager at Designers Guild.
About the Photographer
James Merrell’s photographs reflect a fascination with people, where and how they live, what they wear, eat, delight in, and look at. His ethos of close collaboration has resulted in the opportunity to work with some of the most interesting and talented individuals in their fields. James’s photography and editorial has been featured in many books & magazines, including Elle Décor, Vogue Living, Town & Country and the Wall Street Journal. He does occasionally relax and is fond of his houseboat and motorcycles.
About the Exhibition
Out of the Blue: 14 February to 13 September 2020.
Offering unique access to Designers Guild’s archive, with never before displayed original designs and artwork, the Out of the Blue exhibition will showcase the story of Designers Guild, in settings that capture the changing tastes in interiors over the past five decades.
Given the current Covid19 restrictions, this exhibition is likely to be extended. Full details can be found at Fashion and Textile Museum. Please contact the Museum for more information before travelling.
About the Book
Title: Out of the blue: Fifty years of Designers Guild
Author: Tricia Guild and Amanda Back
Publisher: Acc Art Books
ISBN: 978-1788840743
Trim Size: 270x215mm
Pages: 256, full colour
Review by: Sharon Corbally
You may also want to read these books:
Book Review: Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt
Book Review: Jane Austen’s England: A Travel Guide by Karin Quint
Book Review: Bridge to Eternity by Romola Farr
* Disclaimer: We were given a copy of the book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.
18 comments
This looks like a great book to get some home decor inspiration from and something we could have done with when choosing colours etc for our house x
It absolutely is, especially with you home renovations
Funnily enough, we were doing house renovations just now, and this book would have been so useful in lots of different ways!
It would indeed but never too late to get it
This looks a great book, being bigger size and with some excellent looking pictures should help inspire, great review.
Thank you so much
This looks like a wonderful coffee table book! It sounds really interesting and it looks like it has really beautiful photos.
The photos are amazing and these will be exhibited till September as well
Out of the Blue looks like a brilliant book and exhibition! I’ve never been to the Fashion and Textile Museum, but it’s been on my list for a while. I’ll have to check it out when it re-opens.
Please do, it is a fantastic book and showcases so many wonderful photos in it too
What a beautiful book with such stunning photography, definitely one to leave out on the coffee table!
It is perfect for the coffee table and a conversation starter as well
This looks brilliant and love that it’s a bigger size so we can all sit round together and look at it as a family
So true, great as a coffee table book
This book looks like the perfect gift for budding designers for inspiration
It absolutely is Kara
This looks like it would be the perfect book choice if you were looking for some home decor inspiration.
Absolutely! So much inspiration in the book