Repeating Pattern Design

A repeating pattern is built from two decisions: the motif (the single shape or figure being repeated) and the repeat unit (the invisible grid the motif is placed on - a straight grid, a brick-offset grid, or a diagonal one).

The design only reads as a pattern once it repeats at least three or four times, so testing a motif means drawing it small and tiling it, not judging it as a single large drawing. This groundwork is used again directly in the Grade 8 Leaf Pattern Design and Grade 8 cushion cover design brief.