2008 42c Eames, Checked Design

U.S. #4333b
Charles and Ray Eames
Crosspatch Fabric

Issue Date: June 17, 2008
City: Santa Monica, CA

Charles and Ray Eames are considered among the most visionary designers of the twentieth century.  The joyous husband-and-wife design team believed there was beauty in the common.   They used this philosophy in everything they designed.

In 1947, the Eameses created a collection of textiles for the Competition for Modern Fabric Design, sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art.  Their fabric designs turned abstract art into useful everyday objects.  One fabric, Crosspatch, consists of small boxes containing alternate X’s and dots.  Looking similar to both the famous Eames Case Study House #8 and their storage cabinets, the fabric shows the intimate relationship between everything they designed.  Crosspatch was manufactured by Schiffer Prints during the Eameses’ lifetime.  Other fabrics created by the Eameses in 1947 include Dot, pictured on this cover, Small Dot, and Circles.  They are produced today by the Eames Office and Maharam Textiles.  Charles and Ray Eames believed they could improve people’s lives through good design.  Their textiles are one example of how they realized their goal.

In 2008, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 42¢ commemorative stamp showing the Eameses’ Crosspatch, one of 16 issued to honor the many contributions of Charles and Ray Eames.