About this Class:
Once you have been doing pattern design for a while, you will feel like it is an issue to stay organized with all the files and steps necessary to fill out an entire collection. There are the initial development files, the experiments, the tests and then all the final content including the hero pattern, the secondary, blenders and coordinates. It can become a crazy mess if you don’t have a system. While keeping this all straight, you are also trying to get faster at it all, because we all know, in the design game, time is money! In this course, Optimized Workflow for Pattern Design, I’m sharing everything I’ve learned in optimizing the pattern design workflow which I have learned from hours of creating and perfecting. You will see my personal technique for staying organized in the design of an entire collection and all the ways I have found to be as efficient as humanly possible. With my process, you can literally create multiple patterns or an entire collection is a few days. With experience, you will soon improve that! I hope you will learn from all my techniques. I will be providing you with FREE valuable assets that will shave time off the process for you and help you become a better professional designer in the process. This course follows up the Folk Art Inspired Half Drop Toss Pattern Course, where you learned how to create a specific toss pattern with a half-drop. I will be using all the assets developed during that course, so it is perfect as part of the continuum.
I’ll show you my step-by-step process, from using the easy master document (which I am providing for free), to best practices for its use. We will work with this document so I can explain every step I take, and I will explain the rationale behind using it. We will be creating the template with transformations (which I am also providing for free), and I will also explain why it is so useful, and how it saves time. All the concepts can be used in any patterns you make down the line, and skills are transferable to any software that has similar functionality. The value of a course like this, especially when you are first starting out, cannot be underestimated! I wish I had been given this info when I first started designing patterns!
As far as prerequisite skills, I would recommend some knowledge of pattern-making with the goal of wanting to learn additional techniques. In class, we’ll talk about both design and technical aspects of workflow optimization. We’ll discuss theory which enhances and reinforces total organization. I will be demonstrating using Illustrator, but it’s the concepts that are important, and these could easily be applied to similar software as well. Although some of the steps may seem confusing, I will demonstrate them at a reasonable pace so that it will be easy to follow along. This course is for all levels; I recommend being acquainted with Illustrator somewhat, and, also knowing the basic principles of creating pattern repeats, but most steps are explained very thoroughly. I suggest pausing and repeating sections and possibly even slowing the speed if you are in your browser. Adobe Illustrator is recommended for this class, as that is what is being featured here, and it makes use of the Transformation Effects and the Appearance Panel.
The key concepts I will include:
- review of my techniques in creating the repeat pattern using the transformation template
- methods to automate with transformations and why they help you be more productive
- organizational considerations for naming protocols when exporting assets or naming artboards
- good examples, reference and inspiration for reinforcing the goal
- other approaches you can take in your creative surface pattern design work
This course is packed with copious amounts of information for you no matter what stage you are at in your career. Kick-off your journey to efficiency today, so you can be benefitting from this practical knowledge double-time in your design practice! Being efficient and working faster and more effectively is absolutely obtainable with this small investment of time. Let’s dig in!
Concepts covered:
Concepts covered include but are not limited to pattern design, repeated patterns, surface pattern design, Illustrator repeat, Illustrator pattern design tool, Illustrator transformation effect, working with transformation templates, the Appearance Panel, arranging motifs, using Illustrator brushes, essential Illustrator keyboard shortcuts, optimizing Illustrator workflow, organizing and renaming swatches, efficiency habits, double-checking, naming protocols, persistence, saving swatches, saving brushes, and much more!
You will get the bonus of…
- approx hour of direction from an instructor who has been in the graphic design business and education for over 40 years
- awareness of multiple approaches to resolve each design challenge
- handouts explaining key concepts
- a list of helpful online sites to further your education into surface pattern design.
Project Description
For the class project, you will create swatches and save them to upload here, then you will use the swatches to create a mockup which you will also share. If you create an entire collection, even if it has only a few patterns, take a screenshot of your master document and share!
The Curriculum
- Intro - Optimized Workflow for Designing Pattern Collections (2:43)
- Lesson 1 Organizing Your Workflow (5:19)
- Lesson 2 The Value of Transformation Templates (7:40)
- Lesson 3 Working with the Template (8:15)
- Lesson 4 Motifs, Brushes and Swatches (6:19)
- Lesson 5 Last Checks and Asset Exports (9:57)
- Lesson 6 Efficient Mockup Handling (5:33)
- Lesson 7 Exporting Swatches (9:59)
- Lesson 8 Persistence with Swatches and Palettes (6:54)
- Outro (2:31)