Slide Pattern Design

Slide Pattern Design

This simple design follows a tight grid pattern, making the pattern graphic and fun.

Design Inspiration

Albert Heijn supermarkets in the Netherlands have unusual, wooden, coffee stirrers. Not just a stick, they have a pleasing circular handle at one end – making them ideal to create a pattern! This pattern uses a series of different sticks that slide past each other.

Pattern Repeat

The circular parts follow a tight grid. When the design is viewed from a distance it appears to have a distinct zig-zag, ikat-like pattern.

Pattern Development

My earliest designs had all of the sticks in different colours and the circular part in another colour too. But it just looked too clumsy and messy. Later designs are simplified with all the circular parts in white. The handles were coloured white too but with the transparency set to Overlay. This effectively made the colours of the handles react to the background colour creating a new colour.

Overlaying Colours

For the most recent versions I made the colour of the circular parts different to the main stem. Then experimented with overlaying the colours, which I think produces the most interesting design.

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.