How to make repeat prints

Here is a post I found on Design Sponge that is useful for those who has ever asked the question, how to make a repeat print pattern. Here you are. Thank you Design Sponge. Time to make some prints, ah?

One of the questions I frequently get emailed is -how do you make a repeat pattern? I thought it would be fun today to do a little tutorial showing you how simple it is even with a very complex drawing. And you don’t even need a computer! (I usually do my repeats on the computer but today I’m doing it the way I was first taught.) Here’s the old fashioned way of making a tile-able design:

On a clean piece of paper draw a design in the middle of your paper without letting any of the drawing touch the edges- this is very important. (I am going to draw lions and vine-y things- an influence from last months visit to the American Folk Art museum in nyc.)

Once you finish the middle space as much as you want you are going to cut your drawing in half- scary I know- but that’s why computers are helpful. Once you have the two pieces flip them and tape your drawing back together. Put the tape on the back of the paper so it doesn’t obstruct your drawing at all later. Also try to tape your drawing back together as perfectly lined up as possible. It’s hard to see that I’ve even taped mine since I’ve lined it up so well.

Next you are going to cut your drawing in half again the other way- (yikes!) and flip those pieces and tape them back together. Now your design should be on all the edges only and you have a big middle white space. Now fill this space with the rest of your design. Remember again- do not draw to any of the edges of the paper.

Once you finish filling in all the parts you want to fill in you now have your repeatable tile. You could color this tile and then xerox it many times and line up your design- plaster it on your walls and make wallpaper. I am going to cheat and do the final coloring steps in the computer to finish up my design. I am going to scan my drawing, take it into Adobe Illustrator, color and repeat it there.

And here’s my finished design:

mirror

Oxidized mirrors. I want to get one for the stores.

david derken design

new rodarte book

Got gifted a beautiful book from the talented Seth Zucker, which he designed.
The cover is meant to get dirty with usage to reveal the subtle foil printing.
I feel honor to be a recipient of this already sold out book.

ochzuke ming ming

the weather is beginning to change, naturally, so is my style of cooking.
this is one of my favorite dish. very healthy and soothing.
traditionally people like to prepare it in the morning with the left overs from the night before
i make my version with brown rice instead of the traditionally used white.

Super easy to make.

cooked brown rice
crumbled nori
uni
salmon
umeboshi
wasabi
salt to taste
other pickles to taste
genmacha, brewed

skid mark

Last week a group of cyclists dumped 13 gallons of paint on the road at Berlin’s busy Rosenthaler Platz, creating a series of colourful lines as cars drove through.
The various colours of paint were dumped onto the road in large puddles at different locations throughout the intersection. As traffic drove through, the paint was spread around creating lots of colourful lines. The whole action took only a few seconds: bikers had poured paint from big boxes in front of cars that waited for green lights. So the cars and their wheels, if the driver wanted it or not, became the brush tool for this guerilla public art piece.The creators of the project posted signs on post nearby explaining that the paint wasn’t harmful and would simply wash off with water.

Mother

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his." Oscar Wilde 1895

dice prints

These letterpress dice prints by Stukenborg are pretty neat.