Design your own pattern with repeats

How MaJo Does It

Brainstorm a theme
Start with writing down words that relate to the theme (meanings, memories, things you think about when thinking of it, etc).

Kristen Davis share's their theme.
Create a design concept
Once you've worked with words, choose those that call out to you and define your design concept.

Check the attached Unit 1 Resources to see how MaJo does it.
Create a mood board
Start your image reasearch and organize it in some kind of moodboard.

Green seems to be a common theme in Jonita Griffith's mood board.
Start sketching
Sketch, sketch, and sketch more keeping in mind your concept and visual inspiration.

There are a lot of various elements in Karen Burton's sketch.
Share your design concept
Please share your chosen design concept and inspiration: create a moodboard, wordlists, or brainstorms to show your process.

Illustrator 101

Practice using Illustrator
Watch the lecture videos (attached below) and practice using the tools on your computer.
Share your experiments
Take some screenshots of your experiments and share them with the class.

NATALIA NASSAR share's their experiments

Let's Get Our Hands Dirty

Pick your motif
Choose the motifs you want to work with from your sketches.
Scan your sketch(es)
Scan them or use our digital camera, tablet or smartphone to take a picture of them.
Vectorize your sketch
Open them in Illustrator and vectorise them using whichever method you prefer. See video attached below for more details.

B Little's vectors.

All About Motifs

Share your final motif
Share with the group your finished chosen motifs.

Margaret Kelly's final motif.

All About Repeats

Create your repeats
Choose just one or two of the motifs you've previously prepared, and create one example of each of the basic layouts (if you like them, they can end up being coordinates to your main design). Try also using the Pattern Tool or one of the other tools in the resources to see what else you can come up with. Share your development with the group.

Lisa Quarterman's repeat.

Case Study: A More Intricate Repeat

Prep for your final print
Choose the motifs, color palette and possible textures you want to work with.

Karla N uses many colors in her pallatte.
Create your final print
Now that you know the basics, and have created simple repeats, try creating one with more motifs, different scale and spacing. Create as many as you want, but keep in mind you are working on a main print.

The Final Touches

Prepare to export
Open your final design repeat tile and check your document is properly set for Spoonflower (check the color mode and resolution).

Resize your tile to the size you want to upload to Spoonflower.
Upload your design to Spoonflower.
Upload your design to Spoonflower.

If it's appropriate, enter your design into the current contest.
Share your design
Show us your final result: include your repeat tile and a mockup of your repeat pattern, and don't forget to share the Spoonflower link!

Bonus Material

Meet some of Spoonbill's best designers
Check out interviews with top designers located below in Additional resources.

Additional Resources

Laura Escalante

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