Domino Car Seats

September 25, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Domino Car Seats

Mid-century inspired pattern

Domino Car Seats Swatch

As are most of my patterns and designs, I would like to say that this was mid-century inspired but in fact the inspiration came from a piece of artwork that I did several years ago now and happened to see again recently.

I have, as you probably know, an interest in surface patterns intended for transportation seating and I knew that it was some time since I had designed one. This was always destined to be a car interior hence the rather bland colouring and simple design. But it is unusual and quite eye-catching in an interesting way rather than a weird way.

The design is centred around dominos along with gold falling stars to give an unusual pattern that I think is also pleasing.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

Filed under Transport Tagged with , , , ,

Black Carpet

September 23, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Black Carpet

Mid-century inspired pattern

Black Carpet Swatch

Black carpet tends to look good and always seems quite sophisticated but it does usually come at somewhat of a cost to the home owner.

Black shows up every crumb and tiny speck of cotton that falls anywhere on it and so you can be constantly vacuuming to keep the surface looking good. Also, where brown or red carpet tends not to look too bad when dirty, black carpet shows up every speck of dirt instanly!

OK, so I am the person who cleans our carpet – that’s how I know. That said, black carpet has always been popular and it looks good in almost any setting. Here is the pattern as a carpet in my simple living room set where it looks stylish and just a little out of the ordinary to lift the atmosphere of the room.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

Filed under Carpet Tagged with ,

Bedroom Or Not Bedroom

September 21, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Bedroom Or Not Bedroom

This is a very simple pattern of shapes, or more accurately rectangles and chains, the sort of design that would, mid-century, have been offered as wall covering for a bedroom.

Here, however, it is brought up to date with some suitable early 1960s colours which give it a dated and rather romantic look reminiscent (I hope) of the sort of wallpaper produced during that decade but which could be used in a mid-century room today.

The colours used are quite unsaturated and the shapes are simple and direct, again the way that design was progressing at that time. It’s a fun pattern, fun to make and it would be fun to use as wallpaper or even as fabric.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

Filed under pattern Tagged with , , ,

Mid-Century Quads

September 20, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Mid-Century Quads

The 1950s seems to have been a time for the introduction and inspirational use of simple and previously under-used elements in surface pattern construction.

For example, rectangles (are they quadrilaterals – I never know) are used here to produce a pattern with fills just of mid-century inspired solid colours. Previously, patterns tended to be fussy designs mostly centred around floral elements but the use of simpler, less stylised shapes created designs that were very different but equally beautiful.

It was 1950 so it was a quieter revolution compared to what was to follow in the next decade but it was a change in style without which the riot that was the 1960s could not have existed. I like 1950s patterns for their quieter, more gentle grace and their stylish and often exciting (and moving) use of colour and form.

I had in mind that this design would look good as fabric, especially if used for curtaining or for stand-out cushions.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

Filed under pattern Tagged with , , ,

Watching You Pattern

September 19, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Watching You Pattern

Mid-century inspired pattern

Watching You Pattern Swatch

Now that I have my mannequins sorted and working well, I am enjoying creating fashion fabric patterns again since these are very different and offer quite a challenge.

This design is based around mid-century themes and uses colours from the mid-century palette to produce a bold, no-nonsense and rather eye-catching fabric. The background is crimson while the motif colours are cyclamen, moss green, anchusa (it’s a flower), canary, Post Office red, magnolia and chocolate – all from the mid-century palette. That is a lot of colours and looking at the design I can see most of them so it must be right.

To list the credits again; the model is from Daz Studio (it’s a Genesis figure), the set (such as it is) is my own, created and rendered in Cinema 4D and the all-important pattern was designed in Affinity Designer.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here

Filed under fashion Tagged with , ,

Free Blue Pattern

September 15, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired pattern

Free Blue Pattern

Not all patterns have to have elements that fill the canvas and are which are arranged to repeat neatly in rows or columns and departing from this theme often produces some pleasant results.

Again, from the outset, this was intended as a mid-century type design that was not going to follow the regimented path – although for the most part mid-century patterns were well behaved in this regard. I tried deliberately to create a pattern that was a repeated trail – it must be repeated otherwise it isn’t a pattern. The result is surprisingly pleasing and harmonious as well as being nicely and satisfyingly coloured.

The background is a fabric type of bitmap created in Filter Forge while the colours used for the motif are shown as midnight blue, marine blue and turquoise blue for one element set and Paris green, marble green and moss green for the other. Looking at the finished pattern (it is one of the variations of the original), I can see that some of the colours – moss green for example – has been dropped.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here

Filed under pattern Tagged with , , ,

Wall Art Design 80

September 14, 2017 Leave a comment

Mid-century inspired

Wall Art Design 80

Mid-century inspired

Wall Art Design 80 Image

One thing I have always wanted to do is to turn my mid-century designed patterns into some form of wall art destined to grace the living room of either a mid-century inspired room or a modern room.

I have done several of these before but not, it seems, very recently and so I decided to create a pattern that is just for a picture. This design is sort of mid-century and it certainly uses mid-century colours as you will see below. In essence, it is a repeated pattern that is surrounded by background which I always think makes the pattern stand out better than it does, say, then used as a wall covering.

I have the advantage of a slight skill in using 3D and so I can also show you how the image would look as a framed art print on a wall using one of my simple sets. I think this is a great way to show off patterns and, as far as I can tell, I seem to be the only one who uses this technique!

As promised I have looked back to find the colours used and the background is magnolia (yes, I expect you knew that!). The motif colours are used in pairs and they are: eddystone and brass, midnight blue and castle grey, bottle green and lovely nightshade and finally Post Office red and middle brown.

If you would like to see larger versions of these designs and my other work then you can do so on my Flickr page, a link to which is here

Filed under interiors, Wall Art Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts