Let me tell you a story of how I attempted to create a pattern collection…
Now pattern collections are basically a set of designs with a common theme, and one main (complex) design, with some supporting (more simple) designs.
I am very good at understanding the theory of creating a design collection but I’ll be honest, I really struggle with the reality! Most of my designs are actually based off something that has popped up in my head, and I then spend my time figuring out how to make that design. So yes, not much planning!
I decided to try out the theory of creating a collection using a ‘blue ocean’ theme. Here is my beautiful mood board to set the tone:
The next stage was creating motifs – so using this moodboard for inspiration I painted and drew many blue and white shell motifs, mostly using watercolours.
Now the big step is to create the designs – I ended up using the motifs in a few quite different designs, so yes this is where I strayed from sticking to a theme! Here are the designs:
I’m pretty happy with the designs but I don’t think they really form a traditional pattern collection. The moodboard I created though is still giving me tons of inspiration and I will be exploring more blue and white ocean patterns soon!
If you are an art director or a small business looking for some unique and fun artwork, I’d love to show you my full pattern portfolio – just drop me an email 🙂