Creating Damask and Toile Du Jouy repeat patterns in Affinity Designer 2

About This Class

Learning to create a variety of patterns is paramount to developing a strong surface pattern design portfolio. Pattern design is an essential element in the retail and creative fields, as it adds depth, character, and visual interest to products and offers potential clients a variety of options that they could possible license or purchase from you. In past , I have walked students through basic and intermediate surface pattern techniques, but this month I am coming back with a more complex class that will walk you through how to design 2 new repeat design styles - Toile and Damask patterns using Affinity Designer 2 desktop version.

Course Introduction

Hi everyone! Welcome to class.  I am Jen Veguilla-Lezan and I’ll be  the one guiding you through this creative course. I’m a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and educator based out of the midwest and I run Bella + Sophia Creative studio. If you want to learn more about me, you can find me online at: www.bellasophiacreative.com. You can also check out my YouTube channel: The Creative studio where you will get a behind the scenes view of the work I do as a creative freelancer and find a huge library of free tutorials catered to those of you interested in graphic design, programs like Affinity and procreate as well as art and illustration.

This month I am excited to share a new surface pattern design course focused on designing toile and damask patterns. These are great styles to learn to add some complexity and diversity to your portfolio. And we will create it all in Affinity Designer 2. Let’s get started and create something great together!

A few of the skills students will learn

In this course you will learn how to create two beautifully complex pattern styles: toile repeat and damask repeats. We will learn what these repeats are, the history behind each of these styles, the elements that make up of these patterns and the structure so we can understand how they are built.

We will also learn how to create each of these pattern types in Affinity Designer 2 and some helpful tips and tricks to support you in the pattern creation process. To make things easier, I will be including the class project affinity designer template that you can edit and get acquainted with before you start your own as well as a helpful workbook in the resources section of the course.

TOOLS NEEDED

All you need to take this class is a computer with Affinity Designer 2 installed on it and a tablet and stylus of your choice. You can opt to just use your mouse, but I find that vectorizing sketches is easier for me using a stylus and tablet. I personally use a Huion.

WHO IS THIS CLASS FOR

So, who is this class for? Well, honestly it is for anyone, but in particular it’s for

Artists

Graphic Design enthusiasts

Illustrators

Digital Planners

Digital Planning Beginners

Anyone creative who would like to create seamless patterns

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE 

The class is geared towards intermediate learners as we are exploring more complex patterns, but even if you are a beginner who isn’t afraid of trial and error, I will walk you through the process step by step and help familiarize you with the process and Affinity Designer V2.

Things to Note

Make sure you download the class resources. I've included the project template and a file that you can utilize to showcase your class project. I’ll also include a helpful course workbook. Please make sure to share your project in the class project gallery or if you feel up for it you can also share on social media and tag me @bellasophicreative. I’d love to see what you created or even offer some helpful tips if you need them. Finally, please consider leaving a class review. These reviews are so helpful in ensuring teachers get engagement which in turn helps our classes overall in search. I’m looking forward to seeing your work!