Module 1 class: week by week

We’re on the OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN to the start of Module 1: Designing your way and Module 2: Creating your professional identity.

On Monday February 20, 2017 we’ll welcome students from around the globe for 5 weeks of design fun, to build a supportive community of new friends and show YOU just what the surface pattern design industry can offer!

A LOOK AT 5 WEEKS OF MODULE 1: DESIGNING YOUR WAY

The aim of Module 1: Designing your way is to guide you through the exciting process of finding inspiration, interpreting it your own way and then using that as the basis for all your lovely new patterns.

It encourages you to find your style and feel confident as a designer by focusing on the fun creative side (than the business-focused Modules 2 and 3). It has been developed specifically to allow a smooth transition from designing for fun to designing for industry.

Here’s what you can expect week by week (and we share some insight into which weeks others have found most valuable)!

Module 1 focuses on four essential areas:

Week 1 – Inspiration: What it is, how to find it, use it and record it – and how it can influence your pattern designs. This included mark making and motif development.

Week 2 – Sketching: What to sketch, what tools to use and how your sketches can lead to patterns. This included tips on loosening up, keeping a sketchbook and finding your sketching style.

Week 3 – Colour: The importance of colour, how to work with it and how to create your own design palettes. This included information on creating colour swatches, colour picking from photographs and making colour choices.

Weeks 4 & 5 – Pattern: What is pattern? This covered the fundamentals of pattern design, how to identify and describe different patterns, and how to create them yourself.

In order to flourish as a professional designer it is absolutely essential that you find and develop your own style of pattern design. Something that is infused within YOU. And the sooner you can identify it, the sooner you can work on developing it. We spend much of Module 1 honing skills, gathering inspiration, sketching, using colour and pulling all that together into pattern design – it’s a creative delight!

Student feedback

We asked students from a previous Module 1 class which week they found most valuable.

Here’s how they replied:

(Week 1: 21% | Week 2: 33% | Week 3: 14% | Week 4: 12% | Week 5: 20%)

It just goes to show that everyone’s journeys are different and people take many different things from Module 1. What may be obvious to one may be ground-breaking to another. We’re all on our own path connected by a love of pattern design.

Module 1: Designing your way starts on Monday February 20, 2017.

Module 1 is ideal for anyone interested in a future career as a surface pattern designer, those looking to refresh their design skills or simply rediscover their creative passion. It is the first of 4 acclaimed modules that comprise The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course.

If you have any questions, check out the FAQ page too (links on the top right of the module page) and if you can’t find the answer to your question, email [email protected] and we’d be more than happy to help!