Jigsaws Pattern Design
Jigsaws Pattern Design
When we open a jigsaw box the pieces are all jumbled up. We then have the challenge to recreate an image with the jigsaw pieces. My Jigsaws Pattern Design flips this process and uses just four jigsaw pieces to create a totally new pattern.
Process of Elimination
The first roughs for this pattern used over 20 different shapes. It was when I reduced the number of pieces that this design began to work.
Flipping the Pattern
I like to hide the pattern repeat in my designs, Jigsaws was different in that the repeat was obvious! Early designs simply repeated the four shapes flipped left to right. I found this new design by also flipping top to bottom. I staggering the repeat so that it had the effect of a wavy line.
Colouring the Jigsaw Pieces
To simplify the selection of colours I used just three colours – one of them was duplicated to make the total four pieces. My first vibrant combination was magenta, orange and deep red. This combination remains my favourite colouring.
Colour Combinations
I like to create as many colour variations as possible, then select the best ones. Using Recolour Artwork in Illustrator I kept the same relationship between the magenta, red and orange, then rotated the colours to find alternative versions.
Overlapping Shapes
I create my pattern designs using Adobe Illustrator’s transform function. This makes it possible to keep adjusting the position of the duplicates. Two of the pieces are edges (have one flat side). I found that the edge pieces were too prominent as they appeared to be on the top of the other pieces. Changing the order of the layers didn’t fix the problem. Eventually I resorted to using one of the pieces to cut into the edge piece to give the effect that it is at the bottom.
Background Colours
I like to experiment with different background colour combinations too. I found for Jigsaws that the design was strong enough to stand on a plain white background. I have shown only one on a blue background for reference.
Testing The Pattern Repeat
These full-screen versions use actual pattern repeats, set to repeat and scaled using my CSS style sheet. This is the ideal way to test if a pattern repeat works.
Buying My Designs
Products featuring my pattern designs are available to buy from my shops hosted by Spoonflower and Contrado. As well as fabrics by the metre, they can produce my designs in a range of home decor items including; tablecloths, bedding, cushions, wallpaper, cushions and wrapping paper / gift wrap.
