A question I get asked by a lot by people is ‘how do I get started as a surface pattern designer’. If you’ve drawn to pattern and colour and would like to learn more we’re going to look at the process involved in creating surface pattern designs.

If you’ve started creating lots of designs and you now want to start creating pattern design collections, there are a few things you need to think about before you start.

Is fear standing in your way from doing something you love or are you feeling like you’re not creative enough? Are you wanting to follow your dreams of doing something creative?

The very first step to creating successful designs is finding inspiration so researching and finding inspiration for your pattern designs is really important.

If you’ve started created collections of designs you may know that you need to include a hero design as well coordinate designs. But, what are hero and coordinate designs?

Have you ever wondered if you should be creating one off/stand alone design or collections of designs?
A stand alone design is a one off design, so you haven’t created it to go with other designs or as part of a collection. On the other hand, a collection of designs is a group of designs that have been created to coordinate together and be very cohesive as a group.

Would you like to learn how to turn your art into pattern repeats? There are a few things to think about when you’re creating your art which will help you more easily create pattern repeats successfully.

The two industry standard programs for creating pattern designs are Illustrator and Photoshop.
So the big question is… should you use Illustrator or Photoshop for your designs?

Using and interpreting a design brief correctly can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful design. So what is a design brief, what it is and why is it important?

Developing your own signature style is really important for a designer so you are able stand out with your own uniqueness.