Styles in Carpet Designing

There are two styles in Iranian carpets:
1. Designs formed by straight or broken lines (geometrical designs)
2. Designs formed by bent lines (rotating designs)

Designs in the first group include straight, vertical and horizontal and 45 degree lines. Usually designs in this group are seen in village or tribal rugs and the second group are woven in cities.

The reason behind the broken pattern in villages and tribes are due to the absence of professional designers and simplicity of designs. Of course this is not a prevailing fact. Around the villages of Arak and Kerman, rugs with rotating designs are being woven. But we have to point out, that even they get their patterns from the nearby cities. Method of weaving a carpet with rotating design was that, the pattern was drawn in actual size and the paper was then checkered, where each square represents a knot.

Rules and Tradition in Carpet Designing
1. Margin: One of the most important rule and tradition in Iranian carpets is the margin. Margin includes "center", which is the main margin and one to three narrower margins on the sides. Margin patterns are different, they include Flower, Eslimi, and many other designs. It can be also be formed by frames. The important rule is repetition of designs in the length of carpet. Another point in margin design is that the center margin has a more eye-catching effect than other margins.

2. Grounds in Carpets: Parts inside margins are called “Ground’. (Margins surround it). Designing ground has many rules and the most important is to have an equilibrium; so that half of carpet must balance the other half. In most cases, the top half balances the bottom half (Except in exceptional cases such as flower pots, hunting fields, etc.).

Different Groups of Images in Carpets
1. Lines, surfaces, objects
2. Real or imaginary portraits
3. Nature
4. Historical, religious buildings

Style Recognition in Iranian Carpets
Islam has forbidden creating resemblance to fight against idolatry. Therefore after Islam, countries such as Iran, used abstract and geometrical images. Up to the early 15th. century most images were geometrical. From the 14th century rotating designs began and became popular from the 16th. century.

With the aid of certain views and essence, Iranian designers produced many designs, such as Arabesque and Chinese. They mixed these designs with flowers, bushes, frames, medallions, scripts, animals, birds, people, buildings and other forms in their designs. New colors also helped to highlight their work. Designs were named by its subject and sometimes from its weaving place. Names to some extend talk about specifications of designs.