Having the wrong mindset can really hold us back from being a successful pattern designer.

One of the comments I often hear from people is that they’d love to be able to create patterns but they just don’t feel like they are good enough to do it or they don’t have the drawing skills.

Now the thing I want to encourage you to think about is that if you can put pen to paper, you absolutely can draw. It’s about practicing and developing your skills. If you set a little bit of time aside every day just to practice your drawing skills each day you will get better and better and your skills will improve.

You don’t need to be the best drawer to be successful

I don’t want you to have the thought that you’re not good enough and let that hold you back from actually starting something that you really want to do because the truth of the matter is you don’t necessarily have to be the most fantastic drawer to be a successful surface pattern designer. The scope of being a surface pattern designer and the types of designs that you can create are so wide and varied. Some people are going to be naturally amazing drawers and will be able to draw lifelike portraits of people. Now I know that’s not me, that’s not my style of drawing, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t then be successful.

Other elements are just as important

Of course, drawing is an element that is very important when creating surface pattern design, but it’s not the only element that’s important. There are a whole lot of other elements that go together with that, that are equally as important.​And you might find that if at drawing isn’t particularly a strong point for you, then one of the other elements might become your strong point and that might become something that you then develop and become known for. For example, it might be your use of colour or you might like to use cutout shapes and create designs that way. So don’t let the fact that you feel that you’re not good enough stop you because most likely you’re going to do amazing work.

It just takes practice

Every time that I hear someone say they can’t draw or they aren’t creative enough, I always see their work and it is amazing so I’m sure yours will be too. But it’s just going to take that practice and putting the time into developing your skills and you really will notice your skills develop and improve. I remember looking back at work that I created when I went to uni many, many years ago where I studied surface pattern and textile design and thinking, wow this is really bad. At the time I thought the work was really good, but by practicing and developing my skills over time my design skills have grown phenomenally and the more you practice, so will yours.

Do something daily towards your goal

So don’t, don’t have that belief that you are not good enough and that you can’t draw and therefore you can’t create surface pattern designs. You absolutely can. It’s just about really just letting yourself, do something every day towards your goal. So practice a little bit of drawing every day. A great way to do this is to pick one object and then draw it every day. You could allow yourself the quickest amount of time to do it e.g. it could be two minutes, three minutes, five minutes, whatever it is that you think you can commit to. Then Have a little sketchbook and draw that thing every day and you’ll see how much better you get overtime. It could even be as simple as drawing your hand.

Don’t give up

Most importantly, don’t give up and do allow yourself that time to nurture your skills because with practice you can absolutely get there and don’t let your mind trick you into thinking that you can’t because you absolutely can all it takes is practice and commitment.