BE A DESIGNER!
- Bakehouse Arts
- May 4, 2020
- 2 min read
QUESTION: How are the works of artists and designers similar? How are they different?
Look at the work of these 2 design houses House of Hackney and Timorous Beasties. These teams of designers create bold, fantastical and quirky designs for fabrics and wall papers. Explore their websites to see all their designs. Notice how they combine unusual combinations of images, also how do they link the different animals or plants together? Choose a couple of examples that you like. Here are a couple of examples that inspired us…
Step One: Imagery
Decide on what imagery you would like in your design, plants, animals, insects, reptiles, flowers, birds etc. Look up some photos of these creatures/ plants and practise drawing them…. experiment with adding colour using coloured pens.
Step Two: Sketching your design
We used A3 paper to give us some more space. Look at the designers work again… notice how they space out the objects on the page and how they use linear forms to connect the imagery. What could you use to connect? Vines, stalks, branches, interlinked animals tails? Make sure that one or some of your connecting lines reach the sides of the paper, (this will make your imagery link together when we create a repeat pattern later).
Step Three: Background
Use ink, watercolour, or watered-down poster paint/acrylic to create a colourful, watery wash for the back ground. Use a soft bristled brush and brush water all over the background of your design then add pain – the wet background will allow the paint to flow and bleed across your paper. Use a thinner brush to make sure the lovely colour goes around all your imagery.
Step Four: Detail
Use whatever coloured pens that you can find to add glorious colour to all of the imagery on your page. Adding detail and texture will give your work life! Do you have a black fine liner? If so use it to outline your design and make it pop!
Step Five: Repeat Pattern
Now you have your amazing final design its time to create a repeat pattern like the patterned fabrics and wallpapers we looked at. Take a photo of your design and upload it onto a computer/tablet.
Depending on what software you have, ( I used Microsoft Paint 3D on my laptop), you will need 4 repeats of your image to create a complete mirror image repeat pattern. Ask a grown up of older sibling for help if needed….
Today you became a designer!
MORE IDEAS!
Would you like to see your design used in your house anywhere? If so what would you use it for and in what room? Look around your home today and notice how designers have added pattern to your surroundings…
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