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My Design Process
When it comes to create, nature is always
an amazing source.
Nature is endless, right? It is everywhere! and it has this overwhelming beauty I cannot explain.. It is the obvious that comes to my mind when I want to feel inspired and I think this is a very human feeling.
It is also easy to everyone to recognize nature in designs or objects and to relate it with something possitive or pleasant, therefore creating something from nature shapes and colors is more likely to be something that will touch more than a few hearts!
Nature is not the only source of inspiration I found of course, I feel inspired by so many things that the list would never end! But I want to use it as an example now, because it is what I use more often to start my designs. I am specially inlove with flowers :)
So, first I feel inspired by something I see around, not always going outdoors to meet nature, it can be simply by seeing a beautiful illustration on Pinterest, or seeing a random picture of a dreamed paradisiac island in an old fashion magazine that just fell in my hands by chance..
With that first, fast and emotional sense of feeling inspired is when researching starts. I usually google that flower or landscape, trying to find something I can give shape to. Sometimes it takes minutes, or hours or I just leave it right there for days if I feel I haven`t got enough to start.
When I am ready, I start working on my digital brain side.
With enough material in my hands (pictures, colors, etc, like an inspirational board), I then decide what object I will make and the technique I will use, in terms of format, complexity, etc. Because it is easy applying a bird design in a tapestry crochet cushion, but quite difficult doing so a 4x4" pin loom.
So I usually have templates I have made for this purpose, or I make a special new one. I use mostly Adobe Illustrator to design this nature inspired new pattern, also a bit of Photoshop when necessary (change colors, re draw something missing).
Again, sometimes I get it easy, sometimes there are hours and hours of work involved. Using pictures is quite useful, but you need to simplify them by taking the more relevant or representative aspects of the figure you chose to make it recognizable. Because you are not just making a bird, you are making a certain bird, right? (like the Chucao bird you are seeing above).
When I am a 90% convinced of the design, I try the pattern over a picture of the plain cushion or object (white or cream preferable) in Photoshop, to see if it works in terms of scale, details, color palette, etc. I go back to edit it in Illustrator if necessary. I sometimes change colors in Photoshop, because seeing the pattern applied in the real product is the closest to reality.
Then it is time to see if I am too crazy or I have too bad taste or if.. this pattern will definitely rock!
So I upload the photoshoped pattern to Instagram (mostly) and ask my friends and followers if they like it or not, I use 2 color options sometimes, so they can help me choose the best one.
With the feedback received, I make decisions over the design: change it, publish it is in my shop, bury it next to other bad ideas I have had, etc.
So what I like the most is to take advantage of the best of two worlds: the digital and the handmade.
The truth is, most of my pattern designs don`t even exist. Giving them a digital life first allows me to try them really fast, to make as much changes as needed, to experiment a lot and to finally deliver a design I am 99% certain it will work ( I give that 1% to fate).
Then I have a pattern I know that works and I dare to give it or sell it to anyone who wants to make their own tapestry crochet cushion, in this case. And of course I can keep using it for new designs, again and again, which let me save a lot of time to try out more ideas!
This is possible when doing simple plain techniques such as tapestry crochet, fillet crochet, pin loom weaving, etc. but of course won`t work if the design includes more complex stitches, relief or includes different techniques (knitting + weaving, etc.).
This is the first time I share my pattern design process with anyone, I really hope you enjoyed it :)
Now the question is:
Did you feel inspired to create?
Come and join me!
FlorenciaCC
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