Playing with Surface Pattern
Many moons ago, when I was not long out of University, I joined a small team of designers at a local studio which created patterns for wallpaper and soft furnishings. We designed mainly for the American market and it was my job to concentrate on patterns of a more illustrative nature. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of how to create a seamless repeating pattern but I was soon hooked and loving it.
![Wallpaper and Border designs 2001](http://lisa-marieart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wallpaper-and-border-designs_2001.jpg)
Sadly, my job at the studio was short lived thanks to the tragic events of September 11 but my passion for pattern has remained, if a little buried.
Over the past few weeks my love for creating surface patterns has been reignited thanks to Zazzle’s introduction of wrapping paper to the marketplace. I’ve already made a few simple patterns from old characters and elements but this morning I decided to sit down at the computer and try something new with flowers. Something more along the lines of the wallpaper designs I used to create only this time using vector.
![Floral surface pattern 4 Colours](http://lisa-marieart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/surface-pattern-floral-october-2013.jpg)
When I was working for the studio I painted everything by hand and each design was 50cm square. The whole process from initial sketch to finished design was painstaking. Using a computer is so much easier and I rather like how this has turned out. I must admit that I haven’t drawn the flowers or leaves myself. I’m still getting back in to the swing of pattern making so I thought I’d play around with some premade ‘commercial use’ elements for a while first.
I’m going to be making a lot more surface patterns but I just have one question that needs answering. Do I add my patterns to one of the Zazzle stores I already have, or do I open a new store just for patterns?
4 Comments
Brenda thour
These are lovely! I especially like the zebra one!
Maybe open a new shop if you are going to do a lot of them.
Lisa Marie
Thanks Brenda. I think I will be opening a new shop… just need to come up with a name and get a few more designs done first
Boriana
Your patterns are wonderful, Lisa Marie!
Lisa Marie
Thank you Boriana. Glad you like them… I’m a little rusty but I’ll get back in to the swing of things soon I hope!