Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, wavy, zig zag... so many linear surface pattern designs start with one single line...

How do we take that straight line and turn it in to those beautiful, linear, geometric patterns in Affinity Designer? Let's find out!

Hi everyone! I'm Tracey, an illustrator, photographer and designer from the Chicago area, and welcome to class!

Welcome to the next class in my series of surface pattern design classes, called "Pattern Toolbox!" In this series of classes, we'll focus on a specific pattern, or theme of patterns, in a variety of applications: the Affinity suite, Adobe, and Procreate. With each lesson, you'll walk away from class with a new design for your portfolio, as well as experience in tools that can expand your creativity in surface pattern design and beyond.

In this class, we're going to take a single, straight line and, using Affinity Designer V2, turn it in to a basic horizontal pattern, a diagonal, a wavy pattern, and a zig zag. I'll show you my method for creating linear patterns that allow you to not only create your base pattern efficiently but make variations, quickly and easily as well.

It all starts with a single stroke with the Pen Tool...

The basics of linear pattern creation in Affinity Designer: We'll start with a simple horizontal pattern, created with the Pen Tool and a single, straight stroke. I'll show you how to start and end your pattern tile, as well as how to space and tile your final pattern, quickly and efficiently.
How to add multiple colors to a basic linear pattern: I'll show you how to take your basic pattern from a single, solid line to a final pattern with multi colored lines of different stroke widths.
How to create a diagonal line pattern with ease: While one of the more challenging linear patterns to create correctly, I will show you several things to keep in mind as you create yours that will not only allow you to efficiently and consistently create a successful diagonal, but vary it easily.
How to create a wavy pattern that tiles correctly: The wavy pattern is about as forgiving as the basic linear pattern, as long as you keep a few things in mind when creating it. I'll walk you step by step, through how to create a solid wavy line pattern, as well as how to vary it's colors and stroke width.
How to create a successful zig zag pattern with a single stroke: I will show you how, taking one additional step when you begin your pattern, can help you efficiently create a tileable zig zag without having to duplicate or offset any of your lines to fill in gaps at the sides.

Affinity Designer V2 (desktop or iPad)
- Please note, there are tools used in this class that are only available in V2 of Designer

I'll be using the desktop version of Affinity Designer V2. Most tools used in the class are available on both the iPad and desktop versions, with the exception of the Move Data Entry feature. For those on the iPad, you can still follow along and use the traditional power duplicate method. Where needed, I will jump in to the iPad to show you, step by step, how to complete complex steps.

While this class is beginner friendly, it does assume some familiarity with Affinity Designer V2 and the overall surface pattern design process. Please note, we will not be reviewing the interface in this class so it is important that you know where all tools are located, and the basics of how Designer works, in order to have a successful time with this class.

Hi there! I'm Tracey. I'm an illustrator, designer, and photographer located in the Chicagoland area. You can find more information about me, and my work in my full profile. (find the link above) I've been a full time artist for over a decade, after leaving the corporate world behind in 2011. In addition to teaching, I am a full time creator who sells my work on my own site, as well as print on demand sites like Spoonflower, Society6, Etsy and more.

I've been using Affinity products for the last several years and love to learn as much as I can about the tools so I can not only use them the way they were intended to work but make them work for me; and I love sharing that knowledge with my students! I've had the privilege of being spotlighted by Serif, the company who created the app, twice as a go to teacher for their apps. You can find links to the spotlight articles on my profile page.

If you have any questions about the class, or would like feedback on your project, please feel free to let me know in the Discussion section of class, or by emailing me at hello@traceycapone.com.

I look forward to seeing you in class!

Music Credit: "Passionate Choices," by Mansij on artlist.io

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