(Published July 2022) This is a lecture-based class that focuses on the Dos, Don’ts, and Myths of pattern collections and surface design portfolios. Now has a Part 2 (as of October 31, 2025)!

Hi! I’m Melissa Lee, an illustrator and surface designer who has the great joy of working with Riley Blake Designs as one of their fabric designers! I first learned how to make a technically repeating pattern in Adobe Illustrator back in 2015 right here on Skillshare. I now have about seven years of experience at making patterns and pattern collections, about three years of experience at submitting a surface design portfolio, and two years of experience at being a licensed fabric designer.

Lesson Overview:

Class Introduction
My Surface Pattern Design Timeline
Part I: Pattern Collections
- Why Design in Collections?
- The Dos, Don’ts, and Myths of Designing in Collections
- Collection Size
- Is Having An Industry Focus Important?
- Collection Complexity: Heroes, Coordinates, & Blenders
- Should You Avoid Repeating Motifs Across a Collection?
- Color Palettes for Collections
- Collection Colorways
- A Quick Note on Pantone Colors
Part II: Surface Design Portfolios
- Physical or Digital Portfolios: Is It Worth It To Send Both?
- What Should You Include In Your Portfolio?
- A Quick Note on Trends
- How Do You Get Your Work Noticed?
- Portfolio Presentation Best Practices
- A Quick Note on Print on Demand (POD) Sites
Some Words of Encouragement
Closing Thoughts

Want to learn Illustrator? This class takes a step away from the more technical side of learning and focuses on everything that I have learned over the years regarding pattern collections and surface design portfolios. If you’d like to learn Adobe Illustrator and the art of designing repeating patterns, check out my other Skillshare classes on pattern design:

Surface Design In Adobe Illustrator: A Beginner's Guide to Pattern Building - A comprehensive introduction to surface design in Adobe Illustrator.
Character Design Crash Course: Characters for Surface Pattern Design - I cover things to consider when designing characters specifically for patterns, as well as demonstrate my personal process for creating a repeat pattern tile in Adobe Photoshop, but that lesson is somewhat outdated unless you use an older version of Photoshop than CC, as it is updated and improved yearly.
Basics in Adobe Illustrator: Radial, Grid, and Mirror Repeats - Everything you need to know about duplicating and repeating objects, including how to use the Radial, Grid, and Mirror repeat tools, and a deep dive into the Rotate and Reflect tools.
Basics in Adobe Illustrator: A Deep Dive into Exporting - Everything you need to know about exporting artwork and graphics from Adobe Illustrator.

Through demystifying pattern collections and portfolios, this class can help you to avoid the sort of stagnation and loss of momentum that I experienced on my own journey to becoming a surface designer. My hope for you is to leave this class feeling motivated to share and submit your work and to continue creating patterns!

So let’s get started!

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Adobe, and Adobe Illustrator are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries.

Erin Ebley

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