Mind if I ask you a question regarding making patterns? What's the rules with line weight and lightsource when it comes to making a pattern? Is it okay if every part has a different lighting or should they be uniform?
Hi Anon!
Thanks for this question!
I’d say that when it comes to making patterns, the visual rules are the same as making any other piece--which is, there really are no hard and fast rules so long as the piece as a whole feels visually cohesive. That said, I find that when I make patterns I tend to gravitate toward soft, diffuse lighting, or no shadows at all--since the repeating nature of patterns already makes them look unnatural. Rather, I use value to help separate silhouettes and to push and pull layers of a pattern to make things both visually clear and interesting.
I made this one recently for giggles, and in this case shadows are mostly just to make sure all the objects are well defined in relation to each other. I think the best thing you can do for a pattern design is to keep checking to see how it looks when tiled at every stage in the design process to ensure the overall flow is right!
Sorry this one took me so long to answer; it got buried in my box!
