Surface Pattern Designs on the iPad with Affinity V1 Apps

Class Description

Hello everyone welcome to my latest class! I’m Jen Lezan and I’ll be the one guiding you through this course. I’m a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and educator based out of the midwest and I run Bella + Sophia Creative studio. If you want to learn more about me, check out my youtube channel:The Creative Studio to get a behind the scenes view of the work I do as a freelancer and the work that goes into making classes like this one. I really enjoy sharing my knowledge here online and over on Youtube as I think it’s an accessible way to learn new skills.

This month, I wanted to share my process for creating surface pattern design work using my iPad and the Affinity iPad apps V1. I have shared classes in the past where I walk you through my process using my desktop, but in this class I wanted to show you how seamless (pun intended) the process of making pattern repeats can be working with the Affinity iPad apps. I will show you both of the processes I use when working in the raster based app Affinity Photo V1 and when I create in the vector based app Affinity Designer V1.

I wanted to share some tips, my knowledge and process to help you design surface pattern repeats that you can use for print on demand sites like Spoonflower. 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 your process and complete the whole process using only your iPad, a stylus and the Affinity V1 apps.

What the class is about

In this class, I will walk you through my process on how to make a seamless repeating pattern using both the raster based Affinity Photo V1 app and the vector based affinity designer V1 app on your iPad. You can complete the entire process from sketch to final pattern tile completely on the pad.

A few of the skills students will learn

You will learn the basics of how to use the Affinity Photo V1 and Affinity Designer V1 apps to design a repeating pattern. I will walk you through my research process to find references and inspiration for both motifs and color stories and how to create a quick mood board in Affinity Photo V1. Then you can begin the sketch process. You can either sketch traditionally, but I urge you to experiment with sketching digitally. I will even show you, though, how you can pull hand drawn sketches into your app by taking a simple photo of your sketchbook. Then we will go over the basics of the workspace including the brushes, layers, color studio, transform studio and things like the affine effects in both apps. Then, I show you I how I sketch, ink and color motif concepts directly within the affinity V1 software. Finally, show you how I build my repeats in each of the apps.

I will essentially go through each of these steps in each of the apps individually for an easy to follow along creative session. This course is designed to give you all the technical and creative skills you need to start designing patterns using the Affinity iPad apps V1.

Make sure to check out the class resources for a resource guide on surface pattern design and the color palettes I use for the projects in the course! Also, make sure you check out the Pinterest Board Link with some great surface pattern design inspiration.

If you want to check out some of my surface pattern and other design and illustration work - make sure you check out my shop on Etsy: Bella + Sophia Creative. You can also check out my website!

Tools needed

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

iPad

Apple Pencil

Affinity Photo app

Affinity Designer app

Who the class is geared toward

This class is geared towards anyone interested in learning how to create surface pattern designs using Affinity Photo V1 and Affinity Designer V1 on their iPad. Whether you are a seasoned pro in surface pattern design or someone just learning how to use the software, I work to ensure you will feel comfortable in the apps and the course. As I said before, 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 your process and complete the whole process using only your iPad, a stylus and the Affinity apps.

An overview of the class project

For your class project, we will be creating 2 seamless repeats. 1 will be designed using the raster based Affinity Photo app and 1 will be designed using the vector based Affinity Designer V1 app. The theme will be inspired by your favorite flora and fauna. Your final patterns should be seamless, interesting to look at and include a cohesive color palette.

Deliverables

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

Upload - to the class gallery images of your:

1. Inspiration board with imagery and a color story

2. Sketches of your motifs

3. 2 Final Patterns (1 created in Affinity Photo and 1 created in Affinity Designer)

Don't Forget to download the class resource guide with surface pattern design resources and the color stories for the projects created above.

I am looking forward to creating with you today! Let’s get Started.