Elevate Your Surface Pattern Designs - Avoid These 3 Common Mistakes
Honing your skills as a surface pattern designer requires practice, continuous learning about techniques and trends, and avoiding common mistakes. As you dive into this exciting industry, it's essential to be aware of the common pitfalls that many beginners encounter. In this week's blog post, let’s chat about three mistakes that can hinder your progress and the actionable tips to overcome them.
1. Poorly Drawn Motifs:
Creating captivating motifs is at the heart of surface pattern design. However, one of the most common mistakes beginners make is rushing through the drawing process, resulting in poorly executed motifs. Whether it's due to lack of practice or attention to detail, these hastily drawn motifs can detract from the overall quality of your designs.
To avoid this mistake, it's crucial to invest time in honing your drawing skills. Set aside dedicated practice sessions to sketch your motifs multiple times, focusing on refining the details and proportions. Don't be afraid to experiment with different techniques and tools to find what works best for you. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep persevering until you achieve the desired level of proficiency.
2. Repetitive Motifs Without Variation:
While repetition is a fundamental aspect of pattern design, repeating the same motif without variation can lead to monotony and lack of visual interest. Simply resizing and rotating copies of the same motif can result in predictable and uninspired designs.
To breathe life into your patterns, challenge yourself to introduce variation and complexity. Explore different perspectives and angles, and consider drawing similar motifs with slight variations in shape, size, or orientation. This not only adds visual interest but also creates a sense of dynamism and depth within your designs.
3. Over Reliance on Shape Tools in Illustrator:
With the advent of digital tools like Adobe Illustrator, it's tempting to rely solely on shape tools like the rectangle tool, the ellipse tool or the star tool to create your designs. While these tools offer convenience and precision, overusing them can result in designs that lack character and authenticity.
To avoid the stiff, computer-made look, consider drawing these shapes by hand instead. Experiment with printing out shapes created in Illustrator and drawing over them by hand. This introduces subtle imperfections that can enhance the overall aesthetic of your patterns. They will look more organic and interesting.
Bonus Tip: Background Textures!
Don't underestimate the power of background textures in elevating your designs. Whether it's a subtle watercolor paper texture or textures you've created yourself, adding background textures can add depth and visual interest to your patterns. Experiment with different textures to achieve the desired effect.
Ready to take your surface pattern designs to the next level? Join my Doodles Coaching Week starting on May 8th! For just $10, you'll learn my step-by-step approach to creating gorgeous repeating patterns using Adobe Illustrator. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your skills and unleash your creativity. Click below to join us:
Click HERE and join the Doodles Coaching Week!
By avoiding these common beginner mistakes and embracing best practices, you'll be well on your way to creating stunning surface pattern designs that captivate and inspire. Happy designing!
Join me LIVE this Wednesday, May 8 at noon pacific / 3pm eastern for my weekly Wednesday broadcast about art, creativity and surface design. I’ll be live on my Facebook business page and on my YouTube channel.
See you there!
xo,
Anne
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create®
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
