How To Make Pattern Design – All Grades Procreate Bundle Collectible Art Build a Solid Art Licensing Portfolio Creative Workflow Project Introduction
Retro Charm Stamp Brushes – 5 Pack Mini Collection Teardrop Stencil Product Collections 2024 Trend Report Creative Business Pack Creative Resource Pack Collections Guide
How To Make Pattern Design
In this tutorial we will look at surface pattern design collections! Many surface designers (myself included!) design specifically with collections in mind. In this way, we can license the entire set together instead of a single design. One of the most sought-after illustration types in the licensing world is seamless or repeating patterns.
Artist Pattern Design Techniques
Repeating patterns are the most versatile type of design available. By creating seamless patterns, you can infinitely scale up your designs so they can fit a wide variety of products, from phone cases to pillows and wallpaper.
Today I’m sharing my tips for creating collections of repeating patterns that shoppers will love. If you sell your designs on sites like Society6 and Redbubble, it’s completely acceptable to have unique seamless patterns in your portfolio. However, if you want to get into surface design on a larger scale and work with larger companies that will license your designs, you need to put together collections. Buyers don’t just buy a model and look for it a day later. Tissue paper packs, matching dinner sets, bedding sets, home decoration, etc. They want to see a cohesive line of various designs that can be packaged together to sell in products. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the basics of creating repeating pattern collections!
Let’s start with the basics. You might be wondering what the collection is! A collection is a group of designs coordinated in color, theme or style.
This collection consists of six separate designs, but there are commonalities that hold them together as a set.
I’m In Uppercase Magazine’s 5th Surface Pattern Design Guide! — Carrie Cantwell
Although they were consistent, I didn’t want this collection to be too “matchy”. Here are some of the elements that make these pieces unique.
When you consider curating a collection, ask yourself: “Would all of these projects work together in the same room?” Consider the example of duvet covers, sheets, wallpaper and pillows. You don’t want all of these elements to have the same design, but you do want them to all work together harmoniously. Here’s an example from my latest bedding collection with Target. Duvet covers and pillowcases are separate but compatible designs. The wallpaper also has a connection to the collection because it is geometric and hand-painted, like the patterns on the bed linens. Together they form a complete and harmonious collection!
If you’re creating a design collection from scratch, it can be helpful to have an idea of where to start. Collections often focus on similar themes, color palettes or styles. To ensure your collection is cohesive, it can be helpful to add coordinating items from all three categories to separate pieces of your collection. Let’s analyze these a little more in depth.
The most popular way to put together a collection is to center it around a particular theme. Themes can be based on patterns, seasons, holidays, hobbies and much more. The options are endless! For example, here’s a little collection I created based on my favorite holiday: Halloween!
How To Create A Paisley Pattern Design With Generative Myth Ai’s Text-to-image Feature
When I look for inspiration for new collections, I start thinking about what’s trending right now. Learning to monitor and predict trends is an important skill for a surface designer to have. If you want an in-depth look at how to follow trends, check out my blog post Trend Forecasting for Visual Creators. So pick a trend and start building your collection around it!
The next place to look for themes is to take inspiration from your own life. As a digital nomad, I spend most of the year traveling the world and gathering inspiration along the way. This collection was inspired by designs I saw in different countries throughout the year.
I especially love using Spoonflower as inspiration for repeating patterns. Spoonflower is a print-on-demand site that sells fabric and other products that require a repeating pattern. They have a team curating themed collections from the designs available on their site, so it’s a great place to check out what’s out there in the world of perfect patterns! Take some time to browse the curated themes page; You can be sure that one of their themes will inspire you! They also keep up with trends, so if you’re new to the world of trend following, this might be a good place to start!
My general rule of thumb when creating a collection like this pink and gold example is to stick to the same color palette.
Pattern Generator: Make Free Patterns Online With Ai
But sometimes rules are made to be broken 😉 and there are times when it can be beneficial not to be too sensitive about the color harmony in your collections. Whether or not you stay with the same palette depends on your personal preference and may differ from collection to collection.
Sticking to the same color palette throughout the collection can make it clear that everything needs to go together. But if you want to maintain color variations from piece to piece, consider incorporating one or two colors throughout the collection, even if they aren’t included individually in each piece. This can really help tie different pieces together without them looking too similar. Ultimately it depends on your vision. It’s your collection and your artistic style, so whatever color choice you make, make it yours!
Keep your collections together by sticking to the same style. I usually paint by hand or digitally. When creating a collection, I make sure to stick to the same environment.
Once you’ve chosen the subject of your collection, it’s time to actually create or arrange the artwork! Here is a sample of Spoonflower’s selected themes. This collection is based on the Art Deco theme and contains a variety of elements, making it a cohesive collection without each piece being too similar to each other. There are three important things to include in a collection to ensure it is consistent without repetition.
Repeat Pattern · How To Create A Drawing Or Painting · Art On Cut Out + Keep
1) Add a similar and complementary color story. Note that in this example the different templates use different color palettes, but together they complement each other. The overall color palette has elements in different pieces that tie everything together.
2) Create variations of the theme. The theme here is Art Deco, and this collection includes a mix of patterns, recognizable symbols, and abstractions that all fall under this umbrella.
3) Play with dimensions. A large collection will include variations in the sizes of different models. This helps mix things up and, from a licensing standpoint, gives you more options for incorporating your templates into different sized products.
Learning how to organize collections may take some trial and error, but it’s a skill set that can be learned with practice! And the best part is that you can start with your existing portfolio. No need to go out and create a new set of artwork! Start with what you have and try grouping your pieces into collections. This will help you start looking at things differently so you can start designing with collections in mind.
Seamless Patterns In Procreate — Catcoq
Join me for one of my courses where I share tons of industry knowledge about surface design and tips on how to jump-start your surface design career.
Start with the basics! If you’re new to seamless patterns, this lesson is for you. An in-depth look at my entire flawless model-making process, from painting to digitizing and licensing!
A great way to create collections from existing artwork is to vary the color palette. In this course, you’ll learn how to transform your existing work into multiple new colorways in just a few clicks.
Want to know how to make money selling your artwork? This lesson will walk you through the process of licensing your artwork step by step! I recently created this fun and simple pattern design tutorial in which I taught you how to make nail polish and diamond patterns with the Procreate app for Apple iPad.
Fine Art Licensing: Painting For Surface Design
In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of creating these 2 simple seamless patterns (a nail polish and a diamond pattern) in Procreate right on your iPad. Watch the video below!
You can make all kinds of variations of these patterns to use for wallpapers, print-on-demand products, or anything else you can think of.
I hope you enjoyed this simple and fun tutorial on designing Procreate templates. You might also like my other tutorial on how to create seamless patterns in Procreate, which you can see here.
I also have a video for those new to Procreate with various tips and tricks to help you get started.
How To Create Repeat Pattern Collections — Catcoq
This past year I’ve been a bit obsessed with creating designs and patterns in Procreate. LIKE