Petite Pattern Book: The Best Collection: Soft (English and Japanese Edition)

Whether you design textiles, graphics, books, advertisements or websites, you can't find a more fertile source of inspiration than these book/CD collections of patterns from the unique Japanese publisher BNN. These two books, Vivid and Soft, are essentially ''greatest hits'' compilations from BNN's best-selling Petit Pattern Book series of the last few years. For each book, the cutest 200 patterns have been chosen from the ten volumes of the series and re-worked in new colorways, while 100 new patterns have been added--for a total of 300 mind-expanding patterns.

In Vivid, the patterns and designs pulse with energy. Think plaids, Op-Art oscillations, Gee's Bend quilts, Marimekko and Christmas wrapping paper. In Soft, the volume's turned down, but not the style: think vintage kimonos, baby showers, a day at the spa and Martha Stewart on acid. A gallery of photos in each book offers great starting points for using the patterns.

As always, all the patterns are in the public domain. Each volume comes with an easy-to-use CD accessible for Mac and PC users in jpeg and eps formats. There are also instructions on using the CDs in Photoshop and Illustrator, including how to tile patterns, how to change the color of a pattern, and how to turn a pattern into desktop ''wallpaper'' for your computer. You'll wonder how you lived without these.