Feathers Pattern Design
Design Inspiration
Selecting from a pocket full of feathers I chose three different ones to scan. Changing the scanning settings meant I could refine the areas that were captured so that a reasonable amount of detail was kept, without the image being unnecessarily complicated.
Pattern Repeat
To create the pattern I used the three feathers repeated horizontally. Rather than simply repeat it vertically I flipped the next row, making the curved central feather curve in alternating directions. This set of two lines are then duplicated vertically. From a distance this gives the impression of flowing curved vertical waves.
Colour Variations
For my pattern designs I use a catalogue of numbered, standard colours. There are currently 35x colours to choose from – for example – 0 is white and 33 is black. Developing Design D, I could change the colour of the feathers and the background meaning a combination of 35 x 35 = 1,225. A safe combination would be to use the same colour for the feather as used on the background. Some are shown above. Look out for codes such as D 22 22.
Placing The Pattern In A Location
To give context I combined a selection of finished designs with a straight-on shot of the chair used in my design for mid century modern chairs. Adding a fake carpet and simple skirting board. For every image I altered the colour of the real chair to complement the surface patterns. For each design I also created a simple version that was just the pattern, to show how the design could be used for fabric, lampshades, and other surfaces.
Creating This Page
With so many colour combinations it would be impractical to show all of them. Here I have chosen a selection of combinations that I feel are interesting.
* Smaller screen sizes are designed to display less colour examples.
Rolling your mouse over an image will display its code.
The Future
I would love this design to have another life taken up by a manufacturer. Please contact me if you would like a high resolution file or to talk about how we could work together.
Design Progression – above
- The original three feathers photos are shown first. The right hand feather was actually white, so the image was inverted to make it match the other two.
- Design A uses the feathers in a realistic way. Not very flexible as the colours cannot be quickly changed.
- Design B uses only the outlines of the three feathers. The feather shapes are then reversed out white. Simple, but variations are limited to just altering the background colours.
- Design C converts the three feather shapes to a clipping path so that they could be coloured by any of the 35 colour swatches below.
- Design D converts the three feathers to four shades of white. They are then overlaid onto design C. Making it easy to create combinations of detailed feather colours and backgrounds.
