Witchy Designs

A lesson in vector art and patterning

Adobe Illustrator, is not -- funnily enough -- an illustration-friendly program, as many of my classmates would learn in our digital illustration class. Being the only graphic designer in the room was certainly an event as I watched the (understandable) frustration with learning the quirks and specifics of making vector art using tradtionally-rendered setches. I definitely came in with a better understanding of the program, and don’t share the same seething hatred for Illustrator that a lot of my actual illustrator friends have, but it was definitely a fun exercise overall, with only a few gray hairs gained.

We were tasked with choosing a theme and generating seven vector illustrations to go with it that could be used to make a variety of patterns. I pretty quickly settled on something light-hearted and witchy, with a cool and light palette. A page full of sketches turned into ten, ten designs turned into seven final pieces, and those seven were put together into three separate pattern setups; a hero toss, a column, and a brick -- all of which could be repeated.