Have you created a pattern design and it’s not working and you can’t figure out why? There are a few common mistakes that people make when creating surface pattern designs.

Common surface pattern design mistakes

The first common mistake is not repeating your design out properly. This will usually happen if you have forgotten to repeat an element or your design simply isn’t in technical repeat. More often than not, people will usually get this part right and what they struggle with or haven’t managed to achieve is the balance of their designs work once they’ve created their seamless repeat.

How can you tell if your design is balanced?

The first thing you should do is to stand back and look at your design and see if there are any unintentional gaps that need to be filled. Your aim is to get the elements to work well together so you are able to create a really well balanced and seamless repeat design.

When you are standing back and looking at your design you want to critically look is your design flows, if there are any unwanted spaces that you feel need filling or where you could add another element. Or see if you need to move any elements around. Take the time to critically look at your design and see how balanced it is as this is one of the most common reasons your design may not be working successfully.

Create a well-resolved colour palette

The second mistake that people often make when creating their pattern designs is to not create a well-resolved colour palette before they start designing. I highly recommend that before you start designing that you really spend the time to create a resolved colour palette as this can be the make or break of your design and it can really be the difference between a design that’s successful and a design that isn’t.

When you’re creating your colour palette, make sure you think about having a balance of color, a range of tone.s and consider how all of the colours work together within the palette. There may some colors that work well next to each other but others that don’t. Some of your colours might need to be highlight colors and you may not be able to place them next to each other. So make sure you think about your colour palette as a whole, how each colour works next to each other and make sure that all of your colours are really well balanced.

Add depth to your design

The third problem that will lead to an unsuccessful design is having a lack of interest or depth within their design. To combat that you can think about texture, adding texture within your designs, layering your motifs and thinking about how each of the elements relates to one another.

Don’t just randomly place your elements but make sure you make objective decisions on how each of the elements relate to one another so that you can consider whether you need to add or remove any motifs. Remember, less is often more. The biggest mistake I see designers make especially those who are just starting out is that they feel like they have to put lots of elements within their designs and they end up with elements that don’t relate well together. So think about having the, a number of elements that are going to work well together that they relate to one.

Most importantly, take the time to look at your work critically. This will help develop your design eye so you can create successful designs more quickly and easily.