When most people think of surface pattern design, they will probably think of designs on fabric but you can apply your pattern designs to lot of different surfaces. The scope of a surface pattern designer is far greater than designing just for fabric.

The scope of work for a pattern designer

There are so many different surfaces that you can design on and any surface has the potential to be adorned with a surface pattern design. So I want you to think outside of the box when you’re looking at creating designs and creating designs for products. When you’re going to approach clients, you can then start thinking of different sorts of clients that you might not have thought of that and that are not just fabric related. Here are some of the different surfaces you can consider.

Different surfaces

• Probably the next most common surface that people think of applying a surface pattern design to is paper. That includes gift wrapping, card and wallpaper.
• You could create your designs onto ceramics such as plates, mugs or tiles.
• Designs could go on to glass products such as glassware or splashbacks using etching or other glass treatment.
• You could create stickers and wall decals
• Plastics such as melamine plates and tableware could be adorned with a pattern design

They are a few examples of different surfaces that you could be applying your pattern designs to. When you think outside of just creating designs for fabrics, you have the ability to start approaching different customers that you may not have thought of to sell your designs to

Design considerations

For each different surface you design for, you need to make sure that you have clear understanding of the design restrictions. Each different surfaces will have different restrictions as to what you can and cannot achieve and this will also be dependent on the manufacturer of that particular product and the surface that you’re using that design on.

Before you start designing it is essential that you know what the restrictions and production considerations are that you need to think about before you begin. So if you are going to be designing for a client that is creating a product on a surface that you’re not used to, or even if it is one that you are, you always need to make sure that you know what the production considerations and restrictions are before you begin.  For example, you may be restricted by the number of colors you can use or the scale of the design. You want to make sure you know that before you begin.

By thinking outside the box in terms of what you can put your designs on you will open your eyes to different clients that you may not have thought about approaching which will allow you to have a well rounded and larger client base that might suit the types of designs that you create.