I love seamless patterns. For me, they are one of the coolest and most useful design elements that you can collect, and they come in all sorts of different varieties. You can also use them in Photoshop, Illustrator and as background in web designs. That’s some pretty wicked flexibility.

Of course, not all designers have the time, skill or motivation to create their own seamless patterns. It can be pretty tedious work. Fortunately, there’s a ton of really great resources out there on this vast internet of ours. In today’s post, we’re going to look some of these totally free resources, which you can turn to when the need for a pattern arises. With these various sites at your disposal, you’ll have a really strong foundation for becoming a pattern master!

Downloadable Patterns

Let’s start with the basics. There are a number of different sites that offer free seamless pattern downloads. These patterns can come in a variety of forms, from basic JPGs, to transparent PNGs, right through to fully editable vectors or complete Photoshop pattern libraries.

Patternhead

Patternhead is an awesome pattern blog, in which creator John Rawsterne freely gives away really awesome patterns on a fairly regular basis. He also occasionally posts about other pattern freebies that he has found across the internet, and has a few tutorial and inspiration posts, too.

Patternhead

There is also a premium shopping section to Patternhead, where you can actually purchase licenses for any one of a few dozen more detailed patterns.

Pattern8

Pattern8 is actually a sister site to Patternhead, and is designed to make browsing patterns really simple. Instead of working through the different patterns post by post, you can actually view large collections of patterns on single pages. When you find a pattern you like, just click it to be taken to its own unique page, where you can download it.

Pattern8

All of the patterns on this site are actually provided in straight pixel format, unlike Patternhead, where the patterns are come in vector format. Fortunately, John also includes a link from Pattern8 back to Patternhead, so that you can pick up the vector pattern if you want.

Another really great feature of this site is the ability to browse the various patterns by colour. Just click on any of the tiny colour swatches across the top of the page, and all the patterns of that particular colour will be served up for you! That can make it a whole lot easier when looking for a pattern to match a specific palette.

Ava7 Patterns

Ava7 Patterns is a really nifty little site offering over 1300 free seamless patterns (as of the time of posting) for you to download. Like Pattern8, it also has the functionality to allow you to filter the patterns by their primary colour. Additionally, there is a similar tool which filters the patterns based on their basic shape. Tres cool.

Ava7 Patterns

This is also a really fun site. The design uses simple, bold colours, and there is an interesting effect in which, when you scroll the page, the patterns appear to stay locked in place. There are also a few features that really appear to be nothing more than a bit of fun, such as the “kill the fly” icon, containing a somewhat obscured but still very recognizable Internet Explorer icon. Try moving your mouse over the fly, to see it pounced upon by the bigger and stronger Firefox spider! Too funny!

PatternWall

Things don’t get much simpler than the PatternWall when it comes downloading seamless patterns. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like – a whole collection of different patterns all posted on a single page. Just click on the pattern you’re interested in to bring up a larger, tiled preview and a download button. Click the button to start the download.

PatternWall

It really is that simple. Oh, and just so you know, there are some patterns obscured by the cardboard header and advertising sidebar. To get these patterns, just click the hovering “hide cardboard” button at the bottom of the page and watching the obscuring elements slide away.

DinPattern

DinPattern is another site with dozens and dozens of really cool patterns that you can download for free. I have to say that the detail in a lot of the patterns on this site – all designed by Even Eckard – is really outstanding. The quality here is at a level that I would expect from premium pay-for textures.

Din Pattern

Now, I should note that these patterns all appear to be pixel based. No scalable vectors here. The size of the patterns is also pretty small. They will work great for website backgrounds, but can’t really be blown up. Still, in my view that doesn’t take anything away from the quality of this site.

The Design Inspiration – Patterns

The Design Inspiration is a site that collects all kinds of design related materials. There are logos, illustrations, websites, fonts, articles and, of course, patterns. A quick count suggests that there are about 243 different patterns here, which is a fairly decent collection!

The Design Inspiration - Patterns

Unlike most of the other sites in this article, this one doesn’t actually store all of its patterns on its own server. A few of them are immediately downloadable, but for the most part you will be redirected to the creator’s site. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it can be a great way to find other cool resources, and certainly shouldn’t dissuade you from checking this site out.

Vecteezy (with Pattern Filter)

Vecteezy is probably one of the best collections of free vector downloads on the internet. I know that, of all the sites that I have submitted my own vectors to, I see the most traffic from Vecteezy. There have been a number of different seamless vector patterns posted to this site, and you can see them all just by filtering the gallery to display items in the pattern category. Fortunately for you, the links I’ve included here already have this filter activated.

Vecteezy (with Pattern Filter)

There is no standard format for the packaging of these patterns, so you can expect to find all kinds of different things in the zip files. Some will just contain a simple EPS. Others, like my Imperial Leaf pattern (featured in the thumbnail above), contain multiple colour schemes in both AI and PNG formats.

Brusheezy (Photoshop Patterns)

If you don’t already know, Brusheezy is a sister site to Vecteezy, with one key difference, which should be obvious from the names. Instead of focusing on vectors, this site focuses on Brushes. But wait, you ask, isn’t this a post about patterns not brushes? True. However, in addition to their huge assortment of incredible (and sometimes not-so-incredible) Photoshop brushes, Brusheezy also has a section dedicated entirely to patterns.

Brusheezy (Photoshop Patterns)

Unlike the patterns on Vecteezy, though, these files are actually Photoshop pattern presets, meaning that you can just load these directly into Photoshop and start using them right away, provided your version is compatible with the set. Some downloads will also include a PNG or other file of the pattern, too, giving you a bit of flexibility or allowing you to use the image as a background in a website.

Pattern Generators

In addition to all the really wicked stock patterns you can download from the sites listed above, there are also some pattern generation sites out there that actually allow you to create or customize patterns. With these tools, you are basically taking a stock pattern of some sort and using a variety of different settings to modify and customize the pattern to your liking.

PatternCooler

At first glance, PatternCooler may look a lot like some of the other pattern galleries that we have seen so far, but don’t be fooled. There’s actually a lot more to it than that. If you check out the little icons beneath each pattern preview, you should notice that, in addition to having the option to download the pattern, you can also change the colours and size of the pattern!

PatternCooler

Making your own pattern is basically a two step process. First, you can change the colours of different parts of the pattern. This basically turns a simple design into the blueprint for millions of different combinations. Secondly, you can also change the size of the pattern. Once you’ve set your colours and size, your pattern will become available for download! Some of the designs are really sweet, too, so this is an awesome resource.

You can also create an account on this site, which allows you to save your various creations. Even cooler, though, is the fact that it lets you save your colours. This makes it really easy to create a number of different patterns all based on the same palette.

COLOURLovers – Patterns

COLOURLovers is a site all about colour (go figure). You can browse and create palettes and colours and such, but there is also a section dedicated to patterns! In some respects this section of the site bridges the (narrow) gap between pattern galleries and pattern generators, in that it actually is both. There are all sorts of pre-fabricated patterns that you can browse and download. Additionally, you can also create a new pattern based on their various templates

COLOURlover

The pattern generator is actually really easy to use. The only thing that I can’t get to work is to figure out how to actually save the pattern. I think I have to complete the form below the generator, but I didn’t really want to post a test pattern for everyone on the site to see, and I didn’t really have a source of inspiration for my playing around. But if you want to complete the form and post your own design, hopefully you can get it to work!

If not, the site still works as a really great gallery type resource, whereby you can download a ton of already customized patterns.

Stripe Generator

Who doesn’t love stripes? They are very Web 2.0, and with this handy tool, you can create all the stripes you want. This simple generator has a number of options that allow you to customize your stripes, including size, spacing, background options, shadowing and orientation. When you combine all of these different options, you have a really powerful and flexible tool!

Stripe Generator

The only thing that I wish this tool had is the ability to add gradients to your stripes. Fortunately there is another stripe generator that allow for gradients, which we’ll get to below.

Tartan Designer

Ever wanted to create your own Scottish-inspired tartan? Or maybe you actually are Scottish and want to make a pattern based on the colours of yer clan! Then Tartan Designer is the tool for you. True to its name, this site allows you to create your own repeating tartan pattern with a few simple controls! Just pick your colours, the width of your bands, the size of the tread and the orientation, then press the download button. Simple as pie. Or haggis.

Tartan Maker

The Tartan Designer site was also created by the same people who created the Stripe Generator, and uses some pretty similar functionality! There is also a really cool connection between the two. Hop back over to Stripe Generator and have a look at the icon just below the preview, which says “create a tartan with these colors”. Clicking this icon will actually open a new window and send you over to Tartan Designer, with a new tartan based on your stripe colours! Yet another awesome way to maintain some continuity between colour palettes.

Stripemania

Stripemania rules. Of all of the pages in this article, this is probably one of the ones that I have been using the longest. And, of the two different stripe generators, this one is certainly my favorite. There’s not really all that much to say about this particular site, though. It really is what it sounds like – another site dedicated entirely to the creation of stripe patterns.

Stripemania

A lot of the controls on this one are really similar to Stripe Generator, and though the later does have a few more options, the one thing that Stripemania offers that Stripe Generator doesn’t seem to have is the ability to create gradient filled stripes. This may not seem like that big of a deal, that simple gradient can really add a lot of depth to the pattern.

The one thing that does drive me absolutely nuts about this site, though, is the colour sampler. You can move around it’s colour visualizer, much like you would in Photoshop. Select a colour this way and the main swatch will update accordingly. However, while entering a hexadecimal colour code will change the colour in the visualizer, I can never seem to get it to update the actual swatch. I can usually approximate the colour I need, but for precise colour control, this apparent glitch really throws a wrench in what would otherwise be a top notch tool!

Pattern Tutorials

Maybe, after having seen all of these awesome pattern resources, you’ve been greatly inspired. Maybe, in all that material, you just can’t find what you’re looking for. Whatever reason you might have, if you want to try your own hand at making some wicked looking patterns, I’ve also collected a few tutorials to help arm you with the knowledge you’ll need.

Vector Freebie & Micro Tutorial: Seamless Swirls

This is a pretty simple tutorial in which GoMedia’s own Adam Wagner explains the process that he used to create a ridiculously detailed seamless vector pattern, based on just a few simple ingredients. As you’ll see, it’s a long and involved process, but the basic principal is actually really simple, as evidenced by the brevity of the steps

Vector Freebie & Micro Tutorial: Seamless Swirls

Be sure to read the comments, too, many of which actually offer some alternate methods for creating patterns. The comment by Track6 is particularly useful. Oh yeah, and the pattern that Adam creates? Freebie! That’s right, it’s available for download thanks to the endless generosity of the fine folk at GoMedia. 

Creating seamless patterns in Illustrator

In this tutorial, Illustrator all-star Veerle Pieters explains how to create an Illustrator pattern swatch. Of course, many of the same techniques would be used for creating just a basic vector pattern that you could then import into Photoshop or save as a PNG or JPEG for use on the web.

Creating seamless patterns in Illustrator

Some of the writing on this one is a bit dense, and some of the steps come at your in almost rapid-fire succession, so be sure to pay close attention. There’s really nothing deep, dark and mysterious here, but I will say that a couple of the tips at the end were news to me! I don’t use pattern swatches in Illustrator all that often, but it was really cool to learn that you can actually scale and rotate them using basic transform tools!

How to Make a Perfect Seamless Vector Pattern

I’ve posted about this tutorial before in my Two Useful Design Articles post. As always, I have to say how much I really love BittBox. There is so much great and useful knowledge and freebies there. Anyhow, this tutorial basically explains how to use Illustrator’s alignment tools to create a really basic seamless pattern.

How to Make a Perfect Seamless Vector Pattern

The example used here is probably not the most brilliant pattern ever created, but I think it works well for illustrative purposes. I actually used some of what I learned from this tutorial to create my Imperial Leaf pattern, which I think is a little more interesting. It’s really all about learning how to take the elements of your pattern and line them up properly in order to achieve perfect seams.

How to Create a Seamless pattern in 10 steps

Here is still another tutorial about how to create a seamless pattern in Illustrator. This one is probably the closest to the technique that I actually use, though it’s not quite the same. I use the concept of repeating my elements and letting them all hang over the edge of the art box or art area, however, this tutorial seems to be missing some of the mathematical precision that I like to use (and which I learned from the BittBox tutorial).

How to Create a Seamless pattern in 10 steps

Still, if it works it works, right?

One thing to note about this tutorial though – while the information is pretty good, the writing is horrid. More specifically, the punctuation is just downright bizarre, and for me (a grammar fiend) it’s just plain distracting. Hopefully you will have an easier time reading this than I did.

So there you have it folks, 17 different pattern resources for you to devour. Have fun, but please remeber to read the license agreements for any patterns that you download! Oh, why not leave a comment and let everyone know which resources are your favorites, or whether there are any other great resources that I missed!

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd

One of the current design trends that I absolutely love is the use of heraldry. It probably has something to do with my life-long love of fantasy, and the whole connection to Medieval Lords and Ladies and knights in shinning armour. Some of the novels that I read actually go into quite a bit of detail about coats of arms and such.

So, today, I am bringing you 9 wicked and free heraldry vectors (or collections of vectors). I collected these from a number of of the web’s greatest sources for free vectors, and they come in a variety of different styles.

GoMedia Heraldry Freebie

Sketchy Heraldry by Stock Graphic Designs

Free Vector Emblem by Designious

Free Vector Wings - Crest at BenBlogged.com

Heraldry Vectors by Dragonartz

Heraldry Vectors by garcya

Medieval Heraldic Shield

Ornate Heraldic Shield

Lord Pheonix Heraldry Vector by... Me!

Please forgive a little shameless self promotion on that last one! Also for vectors 7 and 8, I could not find an actual artist to credit, but I thought they were brilliant pieces and wanted to share them here. If anyone knows who the artists are, please let me know so that I can give them proper credit! I would also recommend using these two mostly as a reference. Open them up, tear them apart and see what you can learn for creating your own heraldry designs! If you want to use these in your designs, please consider doing a bit more research and getting in touch with the artist directly.

Which brings me to another point. Please do respect the various licenses under which these vectors are released. The respective artists obviously put a lot of work into making them, and the fact that they are giving them away at all is very noble!

So enjoy these. Salivate over their awesomeness, take the time to learn a thing or two, and above all, be sure to respect the wishes of the respective artists and give credit where credit is due!

Which ones are your favorites (no need to say number 9, but I’ll smile if you do)? Do you know of any other awesome heraldry freebies?

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd

So this morning, I logged onto my computer as I do every morning and checked my RSS reader to see what kind of goodies and news were available for me. As usual, one of the first feeds that I checked was WebDesigner Depot – partially because of its great content and partially because they have a new article every single day. What was waiting for me absolutely blew my mind!

There, in my reader, was a post entitled “300+ Resources to Help You Become a Photoshop Expert“. The title itself is enough to make any designer salivate, and after taking a quick scan of the post, it doesn’t disappoint.

300+ Resources to Help You Become a Photoshop Expert

The post starts off with a variety of cheat sheets and reference pages, to help beginners and advanced users learn or remind themselves of how to use certain Photoshop functions. Other references are simply designed to make your image development simpler and more streamlined.

Next, we are offered and absolute TON of tutorial collections. Some are just collections posted on this blog or that. Others, like PSDTUTS+ are entire sites dedicated to providing awesome Photoshop tutorials. I counted over 70 different collections listed here, which accounts for almost a quarter of the resources. There are also a number of individual tutorials listed. With all these resources at your finger tips, you could probably read through tutorials for a full year! Not that I would recommend it. We still need to have some productive time right?

As if all that wasn’t enough, though, this post also points us towards collections of brushes, patterns, scripts, actions and shapes, all of which are incredibly valuable tools. There is a list of sites where you can find Photoshop files and templates, and another containing sites to inspire your creativity. Finally, there is a list of different blogs and resources, which collects such sites as BittBox and Smashing Magazine.

All told, this single post is an incredible resource for all designers. It’s almost like having your own personal Photoshop library, with content from some of the world’s greatest designers and artists. If you haven’t already visited the post, go and do it now! It’s not often that I get this excited about a blog post, but I’m telling you, you need to bookmark this one. It’ll be worth it!

What are your thoughts on this article? Do you love it as much as I do?

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd

Recently, I’ve come across two extremely useful articles from two blogs that I read quite frequently. Both articles are related to design, and since they offer great tips, I thought I would share them here.

The first is from BittBox and explains one method to create seamless patterns in Illustrator. I found this article when I was doing some research for the development of my first freebie pattern, entitled Imperial Leaf. The article basically explains how to use a number of Illustrator’s alignment and transform tools in order to create a seamless pattern.

How to Make a Perfect Seamless Vector Pattern - BittBox

The pattern that is created here is extremely simple – just a repeated collection of dots – but the premise was like a revelation, and really helped with the creation of my own pattern. I did things a little differently though, and in the near future, I will be writing a tutorial about how I went about creating Imperial Leaf.

The second article is from Blog.Spoon Graphics, and explains an extremely simple but often unknown or overlooked trick for using Photoshop brushes. You actually use the Brushes palette to rotate any of your brushes. It’s certainly not a very long article – rotating a brush doesn’t take much – but the implications are tremendous.

Rotate Brush Between Use - Blog.Spoon Graphics

There are many possible uses for this, but the one that struck me the most as soon as I read the article had to do with grunge brushes. Many of the grunge backs that I use have brushes designed specifically for grunging up the corners of a design. These brushes are great, but I was always frustrated by the fact that I could only ever seem to use them on one corner – the top left for example. However, by rotating the brush by 90, 180, 270 degrees I can use the same brush for any corner.

There are bound to be other uses, too. Rotating and changing the size of a brush can certainly change its dynamic. Regardless, this is just another little bit of Photoshop which, though certainly not hidden, is not necessarily obvious either.

Anyhow, I found both of these articles extremely useful. I hope you do too.

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd

I haven’t posted anything for a couple days now. I’ve been busy helping redecorate our living room/dinning room. Basically we just painted a couple of walls and hung some new artwork that we purchased on the weekend. However, I am taking a few minutes to post this incredible image that I came across.

Lately, I have been working through Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. I read the first five about two years ago, and picked Lord of Chaos up a few months ago. Currently, I am reading A Crown of Swords and loving the fact that most of it is from the perspective of my favorite characters so far (Perrin, if you must know). Anyhow, as I usually do with every series I read, I have also been perusing the internet to see if I can find any cool art (fan or otherwise) relating to these works. It was in one of these searches that I came across this absolute gem:

Moiraine Damodred by Pyji

The painting is of Moiraine Damodred of the Blue Ajah, the first of the Aes Sedai that we meet in the series. I won’t get into much more detail than that, since this post really isn’t about the books.

The point is that this is the single best piece of Wheel of Time fan art that I have ever seen. The style of the painting is really grungy, which I like, and the costume is really well designed. I also love the way that Pyji managed to really capture the ageless quality of the Aes Sedai in Moiraine’s face. Smooth as porcelain and very beautiful. It’s not the way that I have imagined the character to look, but somehow it still seems right.

Anyhow, kudos to Pyji for this awesome work, which I just wanted to share with everyone. If you like it, go check out her gallery on deviantArt. She’s got a really awesome portrait of the Joker too (a la The Dark Knight). Oh, and keep an eye out for another post about Wheel of Time art, where I am hoping to collect some of the best art that I can find from or relating to the series. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line!

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd

I was looking through some of the most popular items on deviantArt yesterday – something that I do quite often – and I came across this little flash gem, entitled “1000 Words“, by Wenqing Yan (known as yummei). Done up as a web comic, this piece combines stunning artwork with a very poignant story.

The artwork itself has an obvious Anime influence, and employs one of my favorite styles out of that genre. The eyes are large, without taking up the characters entire faces, and I love the somewhat sketchy line work, combined with a watercolour type wash. It reminds me a lot of the artwork from some of the Final Fantasy games, and even more of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (though with a distinctly less gothic feel).

Here are a few screen shots of the beautiful artwork.

Screenshot from "1000 Words" by Wenqing Yan

Screenshot from "1000 Words" by Wenqing Yan

Screenshot from "1000 Words" by Wenqing Yan

Screenshot from "1000 Words" by Wenqing Yan

As beautiful as the art is, however, it was the story that really captured my attention. Without really giving anything away, I would have to say that, while there’s nothing particularly deep in it, the story was enough to warm my heart and make me want to share it here.

So, go have a read for yourself. It’s pretty short, but certainly worth a read.

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code - 7ev165dd