Creating surface pattern collection is an important skill of a surface pattern designer.

What is a pattern collection?

A surface pattern collection is a group of designs that work together cohesively to form a range. The number of designs in a collection can really vary and will depend on a variety of factors. It will really depend on who your client is, what you’re designing for etc. But the most important thing about a collection is that all the designs within it work together to form a really strong and cohesive group.

When you start creating a collection, a great place to start is by creating your hero design. Your hero design will be the main design of the collection. It will be the wow factor, the standout design, and is usually the design that you base all of the other designs around. As a generalization, it will usually be the most complex and will usually use most of the colors within the color palette.

From there you should create a range of other designs that coordinate with your hero design. The types of accompanying designs you include will vary but can include designs such as a secondary hero print, simple coordinates and placement print.s

You want to make sure the designs within your collection are consistent in their look and feel. You don’t want to, for example, create a few designs that are very vector looking in illustrator, and then pair it back with some hand-drawn watercolors. You want to make sure that whatever you create feels like it all goes together and there are no elements that feel like they stand out as not belonging.

It’s also important to think about adding depth, interest and variation within your collection to give yourself the greatest chance of more sales

In this podcast episode, we dive in deep about the ins and outs of creating surface pattern design collections.

You can download my Pattern Design Secrets eBook here