Happy Holidays! This is my favorite season of the year - I love the warmth that comes from spending time with family and friends back in town, all the delicious food, the beautiful snow, the pretty decorations and glittering lights... And what better way to start of one of the biggest holiday weekends of the year than with a new Fancy/Funky Friday post? ;)
First, the "fancy": Pattern Lacey
This pattern is actually the first one I ever created. I designed it for a graphic design class project in 2009, where we had to design business cards that represented ourselves to potential employers. I tried a few different illustrations before I settled on a pattern. I wanted something that felt like typography while not being too obvious (like actual unmodified letters), and once I started repeating the shapes I created, I fell in love with the end result. It was feminine and unique and felt a little sophisticated and lacy, which felt perfect for my personality and how I wanted it portrayed on my own business card.
I ended up using the pattern on my resume, as well, which you can see below. A line of the pattern was used to underline and highlight my pre-marriage surname, and even each of the bullet points used to list the items on my resume is a little tiny unit of the pattern.
I don't even remember what character I used to create it anymore, and unlike many of the patterns I've made since then, I adapted the character a lot before I settled on this final pattern, so only part of the character remains, and nothing is really identifiable. But I do remember this - the little unit that's found between every figure-8 unit is actually a scaled down, rotated, and slightly rearranged version of the negative space found inside the figure-8. Do you see it? In the eight-like shape the two middle parts (known as "counters" to all you typography-lovers out there) point in toward each other, while the little unit has the pointed sides pointing away from each other.
Of course, I've had this pattern around so long, that I've also adapted it for other things, including - you guessed it! - stationery!
In the second example I even rotated the pattern to form a circle and incorporated it into the illustration of a clock I used for this anniversary party invitation design. What better way to tie two different parts of a design together than to reuse part of the pattern in the separate illustration?
In the end, it's one of my favorite patterns of all time. It's simple and elegant, so it works great as a large block of pattern or a single stripe, and it adds instant class to everything it touches. Plus, it was my first, so it will always hold a special place in my heart - just like this holiday season. :)
And now, the "funky": Pattern Robin
Pattern Robin is pretty straightforward, especially for a "funky" pattern. It feels funky to me only because it is so simple - big and bold and graphic are words that come to mind - and this is a stark contrast to many of the "funky" patterns I create, which are often crazier and busier.
This pattern seems very masculine to me, since the shapes are so big and attention-grabbing. Plus, from a distance you see tons of simple shapes - rectangles, circles, even diamonds. There's nothing frilly or really detailed about it - it's just there and proud, and you can either like it or not. It's not changing for anybody. ;)
Because it's such a bold, simple graphic, it's a great choice for a white pattern on a color background, like I used in the sample above. I also really love it with metallic colors, since the round shapes that repeat look almost like tiny metal washers for a machine, or perhaps the setting for a beautiful, sparking gem in a piece of jewelry. The simplicity of the pattern is what makes it so versatile, and it adapts easily to almost any design. What can I say, I love it because it makes things easy for me! :)
Enjoy your holiday weekend! Stay safe!
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Click here to see all posts related to "Fancy/Funky Friday"
Shameless plug time: Love my patterns? I incorporate them into a lot of the artwork I create, from stationery for Invites by Andrea to the watercolors I paint. Check out Invites by Andrea's website to see examples of these patterns in use or drop me a line at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com to let me know what you think!
First, the "fancy": Pattern Lacey
This pattern is actually the first one I ever created. I designed it for a graphic design class project in 2009, where we had to design business cards that represented ourselves to potential employers. I tried a few different illustrations before I settled on a pattern. I wanted something that felt like typography while not being too obvious (like actual unmodified letters), and once I started repeating the shapes I created, I fell in love with the end result. It was feminine and unique and felt a little sophisticated and lacy, which felt perfect for my personality and how I wanted it portrayed on my own business card.
I ended up using the pattern on my resume, as well, which you can see below. A line of the pattern was used to underline and highlight my pre-marriage surname, and even each of the bullet points used to list the items on my resume is a little tiny unit of the pattern.
I don't even remember what character I used to create it anymore, and unlike many of the patterns I've made since then, I adapted the character a lot before I settled on this final pattern, so only part of the character remains, and nothing is really identifiable. But I do remember this - the little unit that's found between every figure-8 unit is actually a scaled down, rotated, and slightly rearranged version of the negative space found inside the figure-8. Do you see it? In the eight-like shape the two middle parts (known as "counters" to all you typography-lovers out there) point in toward each other, while the little unit has the pointed sides pointing away from each other.
Of course, I've had this pattern around so long, that I've also adapted it for other things, including - you guessed it! - stationery!
In the second example I even rotated the pattern to form a circle and incorporated it into the illustration of a clock I used for this anniversary party invitation design. What better way to tie two different parts of a design together than to reuse part of the pattern in the separate illustration?
In the end, it's one of my favorite patterns of all time. It's simple and elegant, so it works great as a large block of pattern or a single stripe, and it adds instant class to everything it touches. Plus, it was my first, so it will always hold a special place in my heart - just like this holiday season. :)
And now, the "funky": Pattern Robin
Pattern Robin is pretty straightforward, especially for a "funky" pattern. It feels funky to me only because it is so simple - big and bold and graphic are words that come to mind - and this is a stark contrast to many of the "funky" patterns I create, which are often crazier and busier.
This pattern seems very masculine to me, since the shapes are so big and attention-grabbing. Plus, from a distance you see tons of simple shapes - rectangles, circles, even diamonds. There's nothing frilly or really detailed about it - it's just there and proud, and you can either like it or not. It's not changing for anybody. ;)
Because it's such a bold, simple graphic, it's a great choice for a white pattern on a color background, like I used in the sample above. I also really love it with metallic colors, since the round shapes that repeat look almost like tiny metal washers for a machine, or perhaps the setting for a beautiful, sparking gem in a piece of jewelry. The simplicity of the pattern is what makes it so versatile, and it adapts easily to almost any design. What can I say, I love it because it makes things easy for me! :)
Enjoy your holiday weekend! Stay safe!
-
Click here to see all posts related to "Fancy/Funky Friday"
Shameless plug time: Love my patterns? I incorporate them into a lot of the artwork I create, from stationery for Invites by Andrea to the watercolors I paint. Check out Invites by Andrea's website to see examples of these patterns in use or drop me a line at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com to let me know what you think!
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