Spot and Fix 5 Common Mistakes in your Surface Pattern Designs | Elizabeth Silver

[@byannettebrown]

I doubt that I can adequately express how helpful this was. Sometimes I wish I'd gone to art or design school in order to learn these simple but significant points, but I will do my best to keep learning and applying these lessons. Thanks Elizabeth

[@ElizabethSilver]

I'm not so sure I learned all these in art school...just by doing things over and over :) Keep at it!

[@byannettebrown]

@@ElizabethSilver That's a good point! And I will keep going

[@KaprichosaDesigns]

Thank you - I feel you're so realistic, clear - I love it.

[@ElizabethSilver]

🙌🙌

[@TheLilRedPig]

Ok, now I got really motivated to make a super cute spider design for kids😂 Very useful tips, thank you!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Lol okay but make it REEEEALLLY cute because scary spiders for kiddos probably aren't ideal

[@TheLilRedPig]

@@ElizabethSilver Oh for sure, he'll be wearing boots too

[@katiab747]

Meeci énormément ca m aide a me concentrer sur une niche bravo 🎉

[@Flipthescrpt]

I so appreciate your casual generosity with your knowledge and experience. Thank you so much for your great video series :)

[@ElizabethSilver]

Thanks for watching! Glad to share 😀

[@adbthreetwenty]

I recently bought a very expensive SPD course and have stalled because of the difficulty of it. I am now on a binge here and feel like I am learning SO much more, and in a much shorter time! Thank you SO MUCH for being so straight forward and honest in how you communicate! I have zero background in art but am artistic and feel like this is something I can eventually do. All I know is that when I imagine creating for something like SPD, I feel an enormous positive energy rush through me and I believe that means this is my path! Thank you for sharing all of the extremely valuable knowledge you've gathered through the years. It is VERY appreciated!! : )))

[@ElizabethSilver]

I'm sorry you were disappointed with what you purchased, but I'm so glad you're here!!

[@kab868]

Thank you Elizabeth, the bonus was very eye-opening! I also thought SPD was exclusively patterns. Glad its a broader artistic end.

[@ElizabethSilver]

Yes, it's a common misconception since pattern is in the name, but most working surface pattern designers find themselves designing lots of non-repeating illustrations over the course of their career.

[@sandeemilhouse555]

I appreciate the advice, I’m brand new to SPD and thinking practically isn’t all that natural for me 🤩. I appreciate your honesty, thank you!

[@ElizabethSilver]

🙌🙌

[@ArtByKarenEHaley]

The soft roses seems like something that would be used as a small scale prints background. Not a hero print, but a supporting cast. That being said it could stand to be reworked to have more contrast. I'm looking at things particularly from a quilters perspective where muted and bold designs both play a role.

[@ElizabethSilver]

I hear what you're saying, as a supporting blender it might work, thanks for the perspective.

[@boyandbelugee]

Thank you for this lesson on pattern design!❤

[@ElizabethSilver]

glad to help!

[@bithisumaiya0902]

The guide for repeat layouts is amazing and of course, extremely helpful. Thank you so much for making it available!! 🧡💛💚

[@ElizabethSilver]

So glad it's helpful!!

[@LaurettaDavies]

Excellent criteria to assess my work. Thank you.

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're very welcome

[@saadiyam3040]

Thank you so much

[@ElizabethSilver]

Any time

[@kateaveling]

I just love your content. this was a great lesson in tough love for many no doubt

[@ElizabethSilver]

I appreciate that, just doing what I can to be honest.

[@telvachase9920]

Thank you! I am constantly learning and improving and your videos are so appreciated! ❤

[@ElizabethSilver]

I'm so glad!

[@monislimdancer1]

Very good! Great information and awareness. Also, where do you post the second type of art?

[@ElizabethSilver]

Glad it was helpful. Do you mean the art that works? I have it on my website www.elizabethsilver.com and Instagram and my licensing agent shows it to potential clients.

[@healthyLifeWithRenee]

wow. very helpful! Good to know these things in advance. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@ElizabethSilver]

So glad this is useful to you!

[@stephanies9735]

I just found your channel and it has already been immensely helpful. I just downloaded your guide to '14 surface pattern design repeat layouts' and, as I was looking through it, realized that it would be so much fun to challenge myself to make one design for each layout. I'm excited to try. Thanks, Elizabeth!

[@ElizabethSilver]

oooh I LOVE that challenge! Good luck! Tag me on Insta if you post there @esilverdesign!

[@milenabarbalinardo]

Really interesting. Thank you!

[@ElizabethSilver]

you're welcome, glad you found it useful!

[@thelastwin]

Great great information thank you

[@ElizabethSilver]

Thanks for watching!

[@mahsajohari7536]

the points you said were really great thank you

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're very welcome!

[@KathBorup]

This was great the examples help a lot!

[@ElizabethSilver]

yay!

[@DharNM-dg2td]

Like to learn more about motifs and how do you use it

[@gradosa8272]

😞I left the industry over 25 years ago. I’m starting again working on my artwork. Hopefully, I can make it happen soon. I really enjoyed working in the fashion industry.

[@california4623]

Very helpful!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Glad you think so!

[@rachelpepper5149]

Extremely helpful. Thankyou!

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're welcome!

[@tonyacooley5551]

Great video, thank you!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Glad you liked it!

[@diaryofdaksha]

Such remarkable lessons ✨🙏🏻

[@ElizabethSilver]

🙌 Thanks for watching Daksha

[@tonyacooley5551]

Great advice, thank you!

[@ElizabethSilver]

You are so welcome!

[@yasminkhalifa8548]

Very helpful, Thank you

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're welcome!

[@jasminlatifa5516]

love this video Elizabeth, amazing advices!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Thanks so much!, happy to help

[@marybethmiranda3037]

Interesting! Thanks!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Thanks for watching!

[@1crafter2another]

Can one use special effects in pattern design? For example, for valentines day I think gold and pink, but how does gold translate? I could see it on paper products. Same could be said for drop shadows. Also, are white or light colors not recommended for backgrounds? I've seen several ( patterns in groups) that have negative feedback about a light background, but appears to fit the color scheme.

[@ElizabethSilver]

Great questions. Think about the end product- when I design cards I absolutely add in glitter or metallic effects because we know cards can have those embellishments. For fabric, you could do it for a fun look, but most companies don't print those effects so know what it will look exactly like you design it, not any better- and you have to decide if that "effect" looks good or just kinda fake. I think white and light backgrounds are okay- I have several licensed fabric designs that have been on light and white grounds. But I do know some people have every pattern they create or a full collection on white and that's not a great variety.

[@1crafter2another]

@@ElizabethSilver thank you for the reply! I think I will leave the effects to paper goods. I can see now the benefit designing in raster though. Great videos!

[@farawayspices]

Very useful advice, thank you. What would your advice be to a designer who is trying to balance being somewhat “niche” with also being a viable business?

[@ElizabethSilver]

Being a little more niche is fine, you may just have to work a little harder to find your clientele. Depending on what type of art you do, you may be better off creating your own storefront and products through Print on Demand sites, and then finding customers who need that type of art and directing them to your store rather than finding manufacturing partners who will sell to larger stores. For example, I know some artists who are super talented but use a lot of profanity in their work, so they do much better on Spoonflower and with their own Etsy shops rather than with art directors at Target.

[@auntsima]

Thanks a lot Elizabeth! all my seamless patterns are shit! :) and only one strange seamless pattern bought on adobe stock! I was a little shocked, because the pattern is very strange! I was in a sad mood and I didn’t know what to draw and did scribbles! I like weird drawings and I make weird ones. But alas, they are not bought!

[@ElizabethSilver]

Of course it's totally okay to create art just because it boosts your mood and do the weird stuff ya love, but if you want to *sell* it...you may have to think a little more mainstream :)

[@anahata2009]

Thanks for this, Elizabeth. Still watching and learning, but a question arises for me, having moved from one creative field to another (writing to visual design). Literary agents always caution against writing to current trends, because the glacial pace of publishing means those trends would be long past by the time your book faces an agent or potential publisher. So this makes me wonder about whether doing work based on current trends or colors is really the way to go -how do you find a happy middle way, where you're still appealing to a commercial market, but not creating things whose time will have passed by the time a creative director sees your stuff and decides to license it? I'm guessing that's a tough question. But if you have any insights, I'm all ears. Or maybe surface design works in a faster way than publishing does, so you can still ride the wave of a given trend before it's spent itself?

[@ElizabethSilver]

Excellent Q. The short answer is...you can follow *themes* without being a slave to trends. In the video, I do the search for baby bedding and see lots of animals, especially elephants and lions and giraffes. I designed for babyGap *10 years ago*, and those same animals were at the top of the list for baby clothes a decade ago as well.

[@sierrasue4547]

This is a whole other level of tack

[@TheFearlessBabe]

😂😂😂 Garlic and onions!

[@PrivateCommenter]

Spiders are arachnids. You're welcome for the unnecessary correction. 😅

[@sheverleyclacken3676]

Extremely helpful. Thank you

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're welcome!

[@deannfrey3469]

Super helpful. Thank you

[@ElizabethSilver]

You're welcome!