Rainforest Rambling

October 7, 2022

The Pinto Commission

One of the jobs I worked on last year was for a friend’s cafe. I was commissioned to design a pattern which they could use for their business; something which would work with their existing logo and complement the aesthetics of the cafe and its surroundings. The cafe itself, Pinto Coffee+, is a charming and rustic place situated on a small hill in Kampung Janda Baik, just 40 minutes from Kuala Lumpur. Built almost entirely of wood, Pinto blends beautifully with the tall trees and lush tropical greenery that surround it, while its open-air concept allows the cool breeze to flow through even on the hottest of days. Having coffee at Pinto is a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, and just unwind in nature. They also grow their own coffee and roast the beans onsite - which adds to the cafe’s charm.

For this commission, I wanted my designs to reflect not just the visual aspects of Pinto, but also how it feels when you’re there. I imagined the rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds and insects in the forest, and sunlight streaming through the branches. I imagined the smell of coffee and thought about the colour palette: lots of rich, velvety greens, some mottled with brown, and the vibrant vermillions, oranges, and fuschias of jungle flora.

I decided to paint the motifs in watercolour. I wanted the vibrant colours that the medium offers, but more than that, I wanted the granulation and gradation of colours - my favourite characteristics of watercolour. I ended up designing twelve patterns for the client to choose from: ten patterns housed within two collections, and two standalone patterns. All save one began their lives as brush strokes on paper, then scanned and transformed into patterns in Photoshop. The one remaining pattern was done entirely digitally - initially in Procreate using a “watercolour” brush, then in Photoshop.

Over a series of blog posts I will write about all these designs, but today we begin with the first collection, Rainforest Rambling.

Rainforest Rambling: a mini collection

This mini-collection is made up of three seamless repeat patterns, and was inspired by long, meditative walks in the forest. The namesake pattern in this collection, Rainforest Rambling, is my interpretation of what you’d see were you surrounded by trees and looked up to the sky: a canopy of leaves and branches punctuated by rays of sunlight.

Breeze I and Breeze II, the other two patterns in the collection, remind me of small leaves swept off the ground by a gust of wind, dancing in the air.

If my memory serves me right, I used liquid watercolours to paint the motifs (I really need be more conscientious with my behind-the-scenes/process photos). I scanned them in as usual once it was dry, and just in time, too - before my son decided to sign it off in his name.

Before the pattern - the motifs painted in watercolour.

The two Breeze patterns were an exercise in patience to make, but oddly therapeutic. It was essentially just placing and arranging each and every teardrop-shaped “leaf” on the art board, rotating each one a tiny bit to the left or all the way to the right to make sure it fits perfectly, while trying to make it looked somewhat “random”. I was using a 15”x15” art board, and each motif was about 1.5” long. So there were a lot of leaves to arrange on that board. When I was about 10% in, I thought to myself, “Ok this is ridiculous. It’ll take forever and a year to finish this. Whose brilliant idea was this?!?”

Mine. It was my brilliant idea. No one else to blame but me.

A peek into my working files. All those “leaves” (petals?) were arranged, one by one, on the art board.

So I abandoned it, and decided to start working on some other design options for Pinto. Which I did, and then I revisited Breeze. The second time around it didn’t feel as Sisyphean a task as it did before; the pattern was developing slowly and I could see the end. I actually enjoyed the process - so much so that after completing it, I decided to make a second version: Breeze II, which has more negative space and therefore feels “lighter”.

I’m actually glad I went back to finish it; the pattern doesn’t look half bad in my opinion, and based on the mockups I prepared, would actually work pretty decently on products.

Some product mockups using the Rainforest Rambling pattern.

Huh. I’ve just realised, after writing this, the irony of the name. Breeze I and Breeze II, were not by any measure, a breeze to make.

That’s all for now. Until next time, toodles!

-A-

Wallpaper Wednesday: Exhale

December 2, 2020

Can you believe it’s already December?!? Time flies when we’re battling a pandemic, huh?

It’s been a rough and crazy year for each and every one of us, no matter our situation in life. Lockdown, semi-lockdown, working from home, not being able to work at all, homeschooling, travel restrictions, not meeting our loved ones as often as we’d like, little to zero social life... the pandemic has affected us in one way or another; nobody’s immune.

So sometimes we need to remind ourselves to breathe in...

... and exhale.

When the world outside is so ugly, sometimes it helps to have something pretty to look at. And since a lot of us are now increasingly tethered to our devices, maybe changing up our wallpapers and screensavers would be a nice distraction. It won’t kill the virus, solve our water woes, or save us from global warming, but if it brings a tiny bit of happiness when your screen lights up, why not?

I designed this pattern way back in January, when we were still on a new year celebration high, and the ink was still wet on that list of 2020 resolutions. Our lives were still normal and hadn’t been upended and scattered all over the place like beads on a marble floor. Do you still remember what life was like back then?

Sigh.

Exhale was part of my 30-Day Challenge, where I tried (and succeeded, yay!) to design one pattern a day for the month of January. I designed the tile in Procreate, then vectorised it and brought it over to Adobe Illustrator so I could make a pattern and scale it up without any issues. (I didn’t think ahead when I made this and the Procreate canvas I used wasn’t big enough, otherwise it would’ve been possible to create the pattern in Procreate itself or with Photoshop. But hey, you learn from your mistakes 😄).

I haven’t done any tiled patterns since then. I remember having a lot of fun doing it, so maybe I should create more. Adds an item to laundry list of things to do in 2021.

Alrighty then, enough of me blabbering; time for you to download your December freebie* and brighten up your devices. Links are below, as usual.

Enjoy!

-A-

iPhone

Android

iPad Pro 11"

iPad Pro 12.9"

iPad Air / Mini / Pro 10.5" / iPad

MacBook Pro 13"

MacBook Pro 15"

iMac 27"

*For personal use only.

The #30DayChallenge

January 31, 2020

Helloooooo there! Long time no write! We’re a month into the new year… how has 2020 treated you so far? I know we’ve had quite a bit of sad and scary news in the past few weeks, but I hope that at the same time you’ve had some positive starts - or at the very least, something exciting and wonderful to look forward to at some point in this year.

Like a lot of other people, I approached 2020 with a list of goals for myself. It’s a pretty short list - I’m trying to be realistic - and one of my goals is to have a portfolio of pattern designs by the end of the year. If not a complete portfolio, at least one pattern collection (ie 8-12 patterns designed around a central theme). I would have to choose the ones I feel are my best designs, and to do that, I’d have to design many, many patterns (at least a hundred). Which means this year will be a year for me to practise, practise, practise.

That was when, just a few days before the start of the year, I set myself a challenge: to design one repeat pattern a day, every day, in the month of January, and post it on Instagram. The #30DayChallenge. Yes, January has 31 days, but I thought a nice round number like 30 would look and sound nicer, and I could give myself a day off on the 31st.

Why did I do it?

I wanted to do the challenge to force myself to practise regularly, and I was hoping that the daily deadlines would instil some form of discipline and establish an efficient workflow in my day-to-day routine. I also wanted all 30 patterns to be seamless repeat patterns, as I wanted to train myself to use Illustrator (and other tools) quickly and efficiently.

So how did I fare?

Well firstly, I managed to complete all 30 days (yayyy!). I honestly thought that I would end up skipping a few days, perhaps due to sick days, toddler/family emergencies, and the most likely hurdle: general laziness. Thankfully life was kind and didn’t throw me any curveballs, and I managed to keep my lazy bones in check.

The more important question is, what did I learn from this exercise?

1. Don’t overthink it. Just do.

I realised very early in the challenge that whenever I have even an inkling of an idea, I shouldn’t mull over it for too long. Just run with it. It doesn’t matter that the idea may not yet be fully developed; just start sketching. The pattern will develop along the way. It will take form as I’m sketching out the motifs, and more so after I digitise the sketch and work on it in Illustrator (or Photoshop, or Procreate). Sometimes the sketch won’t turn out the way I imagined it would (I’m looking at you, goat-rabbit-donkey monstrosity in Day 4:“Hippity Hop”), but go along with it anyway. In the context of this exercise, it’s the process that matters.

Day 4: “Hippity Hop”. The dark grey goat-rabbit-donkey is staring straight at me, accusingly.

2. Ideas will morph and evolve.

Some days I had a very clear idea of how I wanted my pattern to look like, and I managed to achieve it (Day 1: “Houses” and Day 30: “Dance”). Other days, I knew exactly what I wanted to sketch, or what I was inspired by, but absolutely no idea where I was going with it. I would play around with the motifs until something clicked (Day 6: “Strings” and Day 15: “Anyam”). Then there were days when try as I might, I just couldn’t translate the vision I had in my mind to the end design (Day 2: “Ombak” and Day 17: “Bougainvillae”). The best and most rewarding instance however, was when one source of inspiration led to several designs. Towards the end of the month, I was inspired by a metal filigree art piece I’d seen hanging on a wall in a hotel. I started doodling filigree patterns, and this resulted in not one, but five consecutive tiled filigree designs, each one “evolving” into the next iteration. (Day 26: “Filigree”, Day 27: “Tiles”, Day 28: “Spring”, Day 29: “Kerawang”, and Day 30: “Dance”). I’d seemingly entered into a filigree/kerawang phase of sorts; one I would happily revisit.

Beginner’s Luck? My very first pattern of the challenge, “Houses” turned out just as I had envisioned it. It took until the very last day of the challenge for this to happen again.

I hit a stumbling block on the second day; this was not the pattern I had in mind. I wasn’t happy with it, but I posted it anyway.

3. Inspiration is everywhere.

Daily deadlines meant that I didn’t have the time to “look for inspiration”. I needed to use whatever I had at the time, and it could come from anywhere. It could be something I’d read (Day 1: “Houses” and Day 13: “Crossword”), or a song I’d been listening to (Day 3: “Better In Colour”). It could come from experiences (Day 2: “Ombak” and Day 4: “Hippity Hop”), or from random things I notice in places I happen to be at (Day 6: “Strings”, Day 16: “SevenEight Lay Them Straight”, and Day 24: “Cozy”). There was a day where I “cheated”, and browsed through my old sketchbooks to look for old sketches that I could use (Day 21: “EllieFunt”).

There were days when I wasn’t inspired by anything specific, but I just felt like making marks on paper, or doodling lines and shapes (Day 7: “Kusut” and Day 10: “Check Check Chequer”).

This scene inspired Day 4: “Hippity Hop”.

Day 7: “Kusut”. This wasn’t inspired by anything in particular; I just felt like doodling circles and lines.

4. Every pattern has a story.

Each time I posted a pattern on my Instagram account, I tried to write something about it; usually what inspired it, or something about the design process. I learnt that having a story - and sharing it - made a design more interesting (to me, at least). It gives meaning to what I create, and to those who view it.

5. Developing a personal style requires more practice.

I knew that I would have to create far more than 30 patterns for a personal style to emerge, but I was still hoping that I could see a modicum of identity peeking through. That hasn’t happened yet, as far as I can see, and that’s fine. It just means I need to design more and more patterns, and I see nothing wrong with that.

So what’s next?

Will I attempt another #30DayChallenge, or something similar? I thoroughly enjoyed the excercise, so I think I will, but perhaps not too soon. For now I need to do some housekeeping (hello, 196 unread emails!), and work on some other areas I’d like to improve. I’ll slowly put the patterns up on products in my Society6 shop, and I’m planning to make some available as free downloadable wallpaper/screensavers. So watch out for that!

If you followed me on my #30DayChallenge, thank you! I hope you enjoyed my patterns. If you have any favourites, do let me know. It’d be nice to see what everyone’s opinions and tastes are like.

If you haven’t seen it yet and your curiosity is piqued, all 30 patterns are on my Instagram page, @almaheradesigns. Or you can click on the link at the top of my site. Do let me know what you think.

Until next time, toodles!

-A-

The Overfloor Pattern Commission

September 25, 2019

A few months ago, a friend and former colleague of mine, R, commissioned a seamless repeat pattern for a custom-print large deskmat - one of those long rectangular ones on which you place your keyboard and mouse. Popular, I believe, with gamers.

It was my first pattern commission.

The “Brief”

The “brief” was simple; he wanted me to design a pattern based on the “Overfloor” - the name given to one of the buildings of the school he went to. It is perhaps the most recognisable feature of his school, with its pseudo Graeco-Roman pillars and the wide expanse of green fronting it (the building overlooks the school’s rugby field). I guess I should explain here that the school is well known not only for its academic achievements, but also (perhaps more so?) for the fervent loyalty and pride displayed by its alumni. Being married to an alumnus myself, I was quite familiar with their fealty, and I’ve seen many an alumni tie, kain sampin, and lanyard out in the wild to understand that an Overfloor deskmat was bound to join the family one day. That I would have anything to do with it was something I had not expected.

Sure, I said. I’ll see what I can do.

This was going to be a new challenge for me. I hadn’t attempted designing a pattern based on buildings prior to this, and I couldn't (still can’t!) draw a straight line to save my life. Why do you think all my doodles are circles?!? Yes, there are rulers and set squares and fancy geometry sets, but I obstinately chose to sketch and draw freehand, and celebrate all the wonkiness and non-perpendicular angles that came with it.

Ink & watercolour sketch. It looks as if the roof is ablaze. I promise you it’s unintentional.

I attempted a few styles: a straightforward pencil and ink sketch, loose charcoal sketches, sketches with and without watercolour, and geometrically-perfect vector-based stylised shapes. I digitised the sketches and worked on them in Procreate and Photoshop for when I wanted to retain the gritty, grainy quality of the charcoal lines or the painterly look of watercolour, or in Illustrator for when I felt the drawings would translate well to vectors.

Charcoal & watercolour sketch. Wonky pillar alert.

The Colour Palette

Choosing the colour palette was the easiest part of the entire process. It only made sense to use the school colours, and R had included a specific background colour in his brief. He’d even given me the hex code - which made it that much easier for me. The colour palette, in short, had been predetermined from the get go.

I played around with several patterns and different iterations of each, and ended up with a selection I was comfortable with. I showed them to R, and thankfully he liked what I’d done. It being my first pattern commission and all, I’d been worried that I’d strayed too far from the mark.

R chose a pattern from the selection I’d given him, and sent it to the printers. It would take a couple of weeks or so, the printers told him. I hope it turns out ok, I silently prayed to myself. I then pushed it to the back of my mind and went on with life.

The Pattern In The Wild

After an episode with the wretched Influenza B (the toddler), and the frustrating annual affliction that is the haze (the country), R messaged me with some good news. The deskmats had arrived, and they looked good!

Aaaaaahhh to see my pattern out in the wild….

It feels nice.

It really does.

Watercolour Doodles: Bubbles or Doughnuts?

July 12, 2019

I had just gotten my hands on a set of Dr Ph Martin’s Radiant Watercolours and I wanted to test them out. Once again my doodles took the form of circles - imperfect ones, but circles nonetheless. As I was painting these, my first thought was that they looked like those chunky, translucent, lucite rings that came in an array of fun rainbow hues and were popular during the 1960s (and made a brief resurgence last year).

When I looked at it again a few days later, I thought of bubbles.

When my three-year old watched me clean up the digital copy on Procreate, he said they were doughnuts. Maybe he was just hungry.

What do you see?

Also, which background do you prefer?

Bubbles Original.jpg — The Original Doodle

Bubbles Pattern Light_1800px.jpg — The Pattern

Bubble or doughnut?

Bubbles Pattern Dark_1800px.jpg — The “Darker” Version

I somewhat prefer the version with the midnight blue background; I think it makes the colours pop and make them almost neon-like. Disco bubbles! :-)

Watercolour Doodles: Orange Polka

July 3, 2019

I’ve been struggling to find ideas or inspiration for new patterns or paintings lately, so I decided to look through my sketchbook to find old watercolour doodles to breathe new life into. I found a few that looked half decent, so I scanned them and cleaned them up in Procreate. I then created seamless repeat patterns in Photoshop.

I’ve been meaning to learn how to use Photoshop for a while now; there are times when I want to use watercolour to paint motifs for a pattern, and Photoshop retains that lovely painterly look you get from watercolour. It’s possible to use Illustrator as well, but there are certain limitations and for it to work I would need to paint with Illustrator in mind.

In any case, this has been a good exercise for me. Using Procreate instead of Photoshop to clean up the digitised paintings/doodles is great because I’m not stuck to my desk and I can do it anytime and anywhere; while waiting for my son in swim class, while taking a quick coffee break in the morning, or while listening to an audiobook.

Once I’ve cleaned it up (nothing fancy; I just remove the background and clean up the edges. Maybe adjust the hue and saturation a bit), I open it up in Photoshop and create a repeat. It’s actually not as complicated as I thought it would be. I still find Illustrator easier, but it’s nice being able to use both.

As I was going through my doodles, I noticed that there were quite a few pages filled with circles and polka dots; it seems that my default doodle is circles. Does that mean anything? No idea.

This pattern I’ve named “Orange Polka” (how original!), was done using watercolours, Finetec metallic pigments, and colour pencils. The metallic sheen of the Finetec pigments didn’t translate well digitally; but that only means there’s more for me to learn in Photoshop! :-)