WOW! What a challenging, fun Summer School 2018 session I just completed at Make It In Design‘s The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, an online school located in Manchester, United Kingdom. For the month of August I was given two Trend Briefs and two Creative Briefs (assignments) to complete. The Trend Briefs will be judged for prizes (free courses at Make It In Design, winning patterns printed on fabric and wrapping paper, along with recognition in various surface pattern publications).
I’m new to this type of designing, loving it too. I would be totally shocked if I was a prize winner as there are some excellent new and seasoned surface pattern designers in this course. I’m still a winner in accomplishing the two Trend Briefs though. Just completing them makes me happy.
Great experience also. I wasn’t sure about posting my work online for the world of design to see. And there are a lot of designers out there. A lot of us feel this way, shy to show work in fear of it’s not good enough. Well, this time I decide to throw caution to the wind. I can handle it. Glad I did too because there has been so much support from co-designers the Summer School 2018 Facebook Group. Was super fun and inspiring to see how others design their patterns, along with the wide variety of styles. Each of us has our own unique take which makes plenty of room for us all.
The course ends today, with winners being announced September 7.
I’ve shared on Facebook what I was working on for both briefs, but we were asked not to share our final versions until after judging.
My submissions are here:
Trend Brief One [Jungle Luxe—Bugs]: Your brief is to design a vintage inspired, bug themed pattern using the following prompts:
- Be inspired by historical references such as vintage nature books and studies Think escapism, undiscovered locations and destination landscapes
- Experiment with realistic details and depictions and symmertry
- Work up your design on the computer. You do not have to put your designs in a technical repeat – a simple suggestive pattern idea is acceptable
- Use the colour palette provided (tints of any of the colours are fine) or come up with your own You may wish to carry out your own research as a visual starting point. Sites such as Instagram and Pinterest are a great resource. Use the images you find as inspiration (but do not copy!)
- Remember to inject ‘you’ into your design. How can you approach the theme in a different way and offer a fresh spin on a look that continues to circulate?
Although I sketched several bugs, I went with a ladybug, gave her some tropical flowers and used the colors for the vintage look. Here are a few variations of the pattern:
Trend Brief Two [Homeland Flora—Wildflowers: Your brief is to design a wildflower pattern, etched and sketched pattern using the following prompts:
- Be inspired by raw nature, sun soaked earth, organics, textures, fields and meadows Think wild landscapes and laid-back, quiet atmospeheres
- Experiment with etching and sketching and tactile surfaces
- Work up your design on the computer. You do not have to put your designs in a technical repeat – a simple suggestive pattern idea is acceptable
- Use the colour palette provided (tints of any of the colours are fine) or come up with your own
- You may wish to carry out your own research as a visual starting point. Sites such as Instagram and Pinterest are a great resource. Use the images you find as inspiration
(but do not copy!) - Remember to inject ‘you’ into your design. How can you approach the theme in a different way and offer a fresh spin on a look that continues to circulate?
I researched Florida wildflowers, finding so many beautiful wildflowers I decided to sketch and use them for my design. The main design started with a curved line across the page. Next I just started drawing various flowers connecting all of the wildflowers so they looped around the page. To fill in the space for creating the repeat pattern I made copy of each flower after they were painted.
Ah, the painting. I got inspired with watercolor for this design. Found some lovely digital Illustrator watercolor brushes. Each stroke of the brush is a layer in the process. I had thousands of layers, and yes, that really slowed the speed. In the end I converted all the strokes into Groups then made png images of them to easily move them around my digital canvas. Was time consuming but the effect is nice.
I think this is a beautiful design that looks great for a dress, dinnerware, paper, any thing as the scale can be adjusted accordingly. Lots of opportunity for this design.
You’ll soon find these, and variations, available to purchase in fabric, wallpaper and wrapping paper at my shop on Spoonflower.com. I’m going to enhance the Florida Wildflowers by making a Florida Wildflower Collection.
I put Module Two course (Creating Your Professional Identity) from this same company on hold to take Summer School, so I’m headed back to to finish it up. It’s a self-paced course so not so much pressure to complete something quick. I’ve already signed up for the five-week next course, Monetizing Your Designs. And, yes, I’ll probably take the Winter School this winter.
Loving this new design passion. It brings back my sketching, along with watercolor painting, and all fun things I like to do.
marylouwade.com 