Pattern Design in Adobe Illustrator

2/17/2023

"The Piercing Eye" by Gabe. Pattern inspired by Art Deco.

This project was an excellent introduction to pattern and history in graphic design. It was also a great way to refresh my students memories in terms of using Adobe Illustrator. Since some of my graphic design 2 students had never done anything in Adobe Illustrator due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was a great first lesson for them too.

Below is an explanation of the assignment, along with lots of examples of their work! I also included the PDF about the different art movements with links to examples for student inspiration.

You may download the PDF below to see how I let students look through the different art movements related to graphic design along with key characteristics and examples.

Graphic Design History Art Movements.pdf
File Size:	136 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Learning goals:

Students will learn about different art movements related to graphic design
Students will learn how to use effects such as distort & transform to create custom shapes in Adobe Illustrator CC
Students will learn how to download and use custom brushes in Photoshop
Students will learn how to create custom patterns for use in their future designs

Project goal: Create a wallpaper or fabric pattern inspired by an art movement related to graphic design using Illustrator or Photoshop tools such as shape, pen, brush, and text tools, and the use of effects such as Distort & Transform → Zig Zag and Distort & Transform → Pucker & Bloat. Your pattern must be inspired by an art movement related to graphic design from the document below!

"Neon Tropics" by Hayden. Inspired by Pop Art

"Grandmas Pattern" by Josh. Inspired by Bauhaus

Requirements:

Your pattern must be inspired by your chosen art movement from the attached document below.
Your illustrated pattern must be 100% illustrated by you. Tracing is allowed, but all of the work must be created with the pen tool, shape, text, and/or brush tool.
Pattern must be created in a 300 pt x 300 pt Illustrator artboard or 2000 px x 2000 px with 300 DPI photoshop canvas.
Add a color background using a square shape filled with the color of your choice! Otherwise default is transparent.
The pattern must include at least 7 different shapes or illustrations. This does not include the background.
When creating your pattern, make sure you select all objects first, then go to "object" --> "pattern" --> "Make". Choose tile type and select "size tile to art". Edit the H and V spacing to adjust for overlap. If you choose "brick" for tile type, play around with the "brick offset" setting. Spend time on this to make your pattern look more even and professional.
The pattern should look like it blends well when repeated together-- consider overlapping and adjustments in the editing pattern.
Save your pattern swatch with a recognizable name by clicking on the library icon and choosing “save swatches”.
Create a new artboard sized at 2000 pt x 2000 pt. In the new artboard, create a shape such as a square or circle in the space. Set the fill to your new pattern (you may have to go to your library --> user defined --> and find your saved pattern name).
If the pattern looks good, go ahead and export this shape as a .png! If it doesn't look good, go back to your pattern tab and make adjustments. Save this by going to file → export → export as and choose “.png” as file type. Upload this shape to your digital portfolio AND this google classroom assignment. This will be like a pattern "swatch" you might see in an interior design store.
FINALLY, as a private comment, give me a unique name for your pattern and tell me which art movement inspired your creation!

Did you know? You can actually order your custom pattern on different things such as fabric and wallpaper using a website like www.spoonflower.com. You can also sell your work using this platform and others like it. Lots of designers make their living just by making patterns!