Hello everyone!
Currently in our art class we are being tasked with creating a pattern design that we will be able to use to design a product that we can use/wear IRL! So naturally, I wanted to create a wearable design that can be worn. However, coming up with a concept for this project was very difficult as there were so many ideas that came to mind and I wasn't sure which ideas would fit which articles of clothing. But, what I did know was that I wanted to create a bold design that felt like me and would be something that I would actually design and sell perhaps some time in the future. (Fingers crossed)
INSPIRATION:
After a long time of surfing my Pinterest boards for inspo, I finally found some pictures that were exactly what I had planned in my head. For this project, I was really inspired by Dadaism which is an avant-garde art movement from the 20th century. One of the artists that really inspired me was actually a music artist that I listen to who goes by Ashnikko. Her most recent album's aesthetic does a great job of combining really soft and light themes with dark and abstract themes which is something that I really admire and wanted to incorporate within this project.
Another huge inspiration for this project was Marcel Duchamp who was one of the most prolific artists of Dadaism in my opinion. His works questioned the definition of art and showcase some of the prime aspects of what Dadaism means. His use of "collage-like" visuals which were intended to shift away from art that is meant to only be pleasing to the eye showed me that visual pleasure can come from even the most abstract of concepts which is something I really wanted to touch on in this project.
One of the other big inspirations that really drove my visuals for this project was these mood boards I found on Pinterest that utilize several Dadaism aspects. What I really liked about them was how they combine soft and sweet-looking items with weird and "nasty" items. I really enjoy this concept as these mood boards were what introduced me to Dadaism in the first place!
Since I knew I wanted to combine cute and sweet themes with weird and abstract themes, I wanted the main focus of my pattern to be something that I personally think fits both categories which is Rushton dolls!
So for my initial sketch, I started off by drawing all of the things I wanted to include in my design before I start thinking about color palletes and arrangement and such. In this sketch, I included a lot of the items I saw from the mood boards I found on pinterest and even some smaller elements I wanted to include in the background of my pattern using repeition. I wanted my design to look soft and sweet from afar, but the closer you look you start to notice the weird and abstract design choices. After drawing out the sketch I was able to determine what I wanted my pattern's main elements to be:
Main Element: Rushton doll-like characters
Secondary Element: Buttons, stars, and heart shapes
Accent Element: Eyes, teeth, and critters
COLOR PALETTE:
After figuring out the main elements of my pattern, I moved on to my color palette design. Since I wanted to combine the Rushton characters, which are usually light and pastel colors, with things like eyes and a variety of critters, which vary in color but usually tend to be darker colors, I knew I had to make the color palette compliment the dominant visual aspects of my pattern which was the Rushton characters. Therefore, I went onto Ibis Paint X, which is a free drawing app, and made a quick color palette consisting of pastel colors to compliment the lighter, softer colors I will use for the Rushton characters. I chose the light blue for main background; pastel yellow for the stars; pastel pink for the hearts; and pastel purple and pastel green for the button shapes included in the background of my pattern. (I forgot to make a color palette for the Rushton dolls and critters )
PATTERN DESIGNING:
Now, it was time to finally get down to the nitty gritty... the actual pattern. For my pattern, I decided to use Ibis Paint X since Procreate wasn't available on my phone for some reason and because it is also the drawing app I am most familiar with. I first started off making the background of my pattern using the color palette I made previously.
Then, I started designing my actual characters which was... a long process to say the least since I am still not used to digital art yet. I decided to draw only the heads of the Rushton characters since I wanted the pattern to feel more symmetrical and less cluttered. (Which I might end up changing) This was the first character I made, however I wasn't very satisfied with it because I felt it was missing something.
This was the second character I made and I tried coloring the eyes a different color (which I didn't like) and adding blush (which I did like).
Then, I created two more character designs given the consensus of design choices that I liked best and ended up with my final pattern!
FINAL PRODUCT:
Lastly, I edited my pattern onto a few things I thought would work best for this pattern which was a beanie and a tote bag! I used Capcut for this since I wasn't able to access Photoshop on phone. Overall, I really like how cohesive the colors look together and how visually balanced the pattern ended up looking in the end.
While I am pretty satisfied with my final pattern, I would like to try adding some of the accent elements in like the teeth and critters to fully realize the vision that I had in mind. I had completely scrapped them when actually drawing my pattern because I felt as though the colors clashed with my main elements as is and because I felt as though the pattern would feel too cluttered if I did draw them in. However, I do feel like my final pattern is more visually balanced this way. As for actually ordering these products, I searched and found a website called Printful which overs all-over printing on the exact products I plan to order. I have linked their website below if you wish to check them out yourself :)
REFLECTION:
Overall, this project helped me fully understand the process that goes on behind pattern making, which is very tedious in my opinion. I definitely underestimated the skill it takes to plan, design, and create a full-blown pattern. However, I found this project very informational given the fact that I will one day be making patterns for my own clothing. I was able further my understanding of color theory and visual balance within this pattern and had a lot of fun doing so!
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