Create quatrefoil and ogee patterns in Affinity Designer V1

Class Description

Hello everyone welcome to my latest class. I’m Jen Lezan and I’ll be the one guiding you through this creative course. I’m a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and educator based out of the midwest and I run Bella + Sophia Creative studio.  I really enjoy sharing my knowledge online as I think it’s an accessible way to learn new skills.

For this class, I wanted to add to my growing library of surface pattern design related courses. I wanted share my process for creating quatrefoil and ogee style surface pattern repeats using Affinity designer V1. I really enjoy creating pattern repeats on my iPad as I find it is a very convenient work flow that allows me to work on the go with minimal tools.

What the class is about

In this class, I will walk you through my process on how to make a quatrefoil and ogee style seamless repeating patterns using affinity designer V1. Before we jump into the design process though, I will share some of the historical relevance of these patterns for inspiration and highlight their evolution and use over the years.

A few of the skills students will learn

So, what are some the skills you will learn in this class? You will learn how to build a quatrefoil pattern and ogee pattern in Affinity designer V1. I will show you how to utilize the shape tools, pen tools and pencil tools to create simple and complex shapes in the vector program. Then, I will show you how I build my repeats with a live preview.

This is more of an intermediate course as my goal is to highlight how to build these complex shapes in the app and not the entire design process from concept to final repeat pattern. If you are looking to learn the basics of Affinity Designer and how to design a repeat pattern from concept, to sketch to inking and final color repeat, I suggest taking my Surface Pattern Design Intensive course for beginners: Learn How to Create Surface Pattern Designs on the iPad with Affinity Photo V1 + Affinity Designer V1.

This course is designed to give you all the technical skills you need to start designing quatrefoil and ogee patterns using the Affinity designer V1 vector app on the ipad, but it doesn’t go into as much detail as the surface pattern design intensive course. It will get you comfortable with the tools and studios in the app as well as familiarize you with some of the layer effects, geometry functions and shape options.

Make sure to check out the class resources for a resource guide on surface pattern design and inspiration for design concepts.

An overview of the class project

For your class project, we will be creating 2 seamless repeats. They will both be designed in Affinity Designer V1. One repeat will be the Quatrefoil style repeat and the other repeat will be the Ogee style.

Tools needed

All you need to take this class is an iPad, and Apple Pencil with the following apps installed:

iPad

Apple Pencil

Affinity Designer V1 app

Deliverables

When you are ready, upload your process work and your final Patterns.

Upload - to the class gallery images of your:

1. 2 Final Patterns (Quatrefoil + Ogee)

Who the class is geared toward

This class is geared towards anyone interested in learning how to create quatrefoil and ogee style surface pattern designs using Affinity Designer V1. Whether you are a seasoned pro in surface pattern design or someone just learning how to use the software, I try to ensure you will feel comfortable in the app and the course. I know that surface pattern design can sometimes seem daunting when it comes to the tech side of things, but for this class -I wanted to show how you can streamline and complete your whole process in one app and highlight some new styles of decorative elementals to add to your surface pattern motif inspiration.

If you feel that you’d like to get a more in-depth view of the basics of surface pattern design and the entire affinity designer interface, I do suggest taking my surface pattern design intensive first and then jumping back into this. BUT - if you just want to give it a try, I’ve made it a point to keep my direction clear so that even people new to the art form can follow along.

I am looking forward to creating with you today!