Creating Trendy Designs with Abstract Patterns in Adobe Illustrator

Abstract patterns are awesome on their own, but they truly come to life when you start combining them into collections and even more so when you incorporate them into expressive designs or illustrations.

I am Evgeniya Righini-Brand, and in this class we'll be looking at different ways of taking abstract patterns a step further and using them to texture, layer and to add a new meaning or visual qualities to your work. This class is a follow-up on my class Creating Trendy Abstract Patterns in Illustrator, and it is designed to get you thinking about abstract patterns on a whole new level and seize the opportunity to make exciting graphic outcomes!

If you haven’t taken my previous class (which I recommend to make it easier to follow this class) or haven’t created any patterns yet I’ve attached a number of my own patterns so you can get started with this class right away and experiments with the techniques and approaches covered in this class.

In this class I'll cover:

• approaches to combining patterns with each other in collections or designs;
• approaches to combining patterns with geometric & organic shapes;
• approaches to combining patterns with type;
• approaches to using patterns in illustrations;
• how to choose beautiful colours which work together;
• basic principles of design composition;
• a range of Adobe Illustrator techniques to efficiently implement demonstrated approaches.

As a bonus I've included 3 timelapse videos of making different designs shown in this class:

• Making of Geometric Composition;
• Making of Layered Organic Composition;
• Making of Composition with Type.

I cannot wait to see how you use abstract patterns in your work! Enrol now and let’s make something awesome!

Research:

Abstract Patterns — our research & inspiration board on Pinterest with tons of example of patterns and their application

Further Instructions and Techniques:

Mastering Typography 1: Introduction to Typographic Contrast — my introduction class into typography in case you want to explore combining patterns with type but don't know where to start. Though it is based in InDesign, the principles are the same and most type tools and panels in Illustrator are very similar.

Draw & Texture Minimalistic Animals in Illustrator — our class on producing vector illustrations in a reduced graphic style and texturising them in case you want to explore vector illustration.

Related Classes:

• Creating Trendy Abstract Patterns in Illustrator
• Creating & Using Custom 3D Objects in Illustrator
• Creating Organic Abstract Patterns in Photoshop

Further Reading:

• Trend Alert: 1980s Memphis Design — article about Neo-Memphis style on Creative Market
• Memphis Group — a set of articles about the original movement on the Design Museum website
• The return of Memphis — article about the return of the style on Dezeen