“Surface Pattern Designing involves creating designs on various surfaces. This can include anything from textiles to a wide range of everyday items. Despite its prevalence, many people don’t realize that a career in design is not only possible but also very profitable.
If you enjoy doodling and creating art, you have the potential to make a good living through licensing your artwork.
While SPD is commonly associated with fabric, they are found in numerous other products like gift wraps, carpets, shower curtains, coasters, mouse pads, Cushion Covers and more!
In my opinion, fabric remains one of the primary materials for showcasing patterns.”
I was unaware that pursuing a career in design was an option. I believe this is a common feeling for many. While we encounter designs everywhere, we often struggle to consider “Design” as a viable career path.
When discussing Surface Pattern Designing, its presence is widespread in our surroundings.
We might think otherwise but patterns do extend beyond just fabric! They adorn gift wraps, tea towels, carpets, doormats, shower curtains, wall hangings, Wallpapers, bedspreads, window curtains, and many other surfaces, the list goes on.
I have this fond memory from my childhood. When I and my sister were little, our mom would take us to this fabric shop called Meena Bazaar. The shop was a huge multi store building and would be filled with rolls and rolls of fabric. We could find beautiful and colorful printed fabric all over the shop. It was one of my favorite shops back when I was a kid. So, we would generally buy the fabric that appealed the most to us, and later get them stitched as kurtas or dresses for ourselves. Most of the times all the material would be made of cotton fabric. But what really differentiated them was the prints that they had. We could see floral prints, leafy prints, mandala patterned prints, polka dots and so many more varieties.
And now when I look back, I remember that shop and the huge collections that it had. Today it inspires me to draw more. That right there was somebody’s work to make those designs right?
Imagine using tea towels or cushion covers with your very own designs.
There’s a unique satisfaction in holding a product you’ve made from start to finish.
And the very thought of “somebody using my products in their own houses”, a Cushion Cover or a bed sheets or a quilt with patterns that I have created is such a rewarding feeling!
Can you imagine? Designing your own motifs, sitting in your patio in the comfort of your homes, or in a garden or near a lake and looking for inspiration everywhere possible?
And to make a living out of that? Isn’t that simply amazing.
And now when I remember that shop and the huge collections that it would have, It inspires me to draw more.
This realization only dawned on me recently, upon discovering SPD, that these intricate designs on fabrics were actually the creative work of individuals.
Check out the Patterns above that I designed using adobe illustrator. The Motifs I used are not hand drawn, but just good pictures I clicked of strawberries which i found in the kitchen of our house and roses that my husband got for me. You Could literally be inspired by anything and everything when it comes to making or designing Patterns.
How can I start designing?
1.You could design from anywhere in the world. If you can sketch and paint, then great! You could scan those images and get them on your computer and use those images to make seamless repeating patterns. (To make patterns using your “scanned art”, the application you will be needing is adobe illustrator)
2.You can also draw them on your iPad if you have one and use those drawings as motifs on your patterns. One of the best apps used for drawing on iPad is Procreate.
3. Another easy way to do it is by clicking good pictures on your phone. You could click pictures of flowers, leaves or anything that interests you. And then you could vectorize those images (by using apps like adobe capture, or Imaengine) and use those vector formats into your pattern designs.
What applications are best for making Surface Pattern Designs?
I Can name 4 applications that I know of and use. Maybe I’ll cover the differences of each of these apps in another blog in depth.
- Adobe Illustrator – Vector Based
- Procreate – Raster Based
- Affinity Designer – Vector and Raster Based
- Photoshop – Raster Based
I really like working on adobe illustrator, although it took me a long time to learn that software. I am still learning it to be honest. The best part about working in vectors is that they can be reused, resized and rescaled (to whatever sizes you, or your clients require), and changing the colors is easier without compromising on the quality.
Feel free to reach out if you want to know anything more, I’ll be happy to help! 🙂
SKUSH DESIGNS 