Colouring, Saving and Sharing Your Pattern

1Colour schemes

A colour scheme is a small set of colours chosen to work well together. Here is one pattern in four schemes.

• Imigongo colours: black, white and red. Strong, bold and very Rwandan.
• Warm colours: red, orange and yellow, the colours of fire and the setting sun. They feel lively, hot and exciting.
• Cool colours: blue, green and purple, the colours of Lake Kivu and the forest. They feel calm and fresh.
• Too little contrast: colours that are all nearly the same lightness. The pattern disappears, especially from far away.

2Three colour rules for patterns

1. Use few colours: two to four is usually enough. Imigongo shows how much you can do with three.
2. Use contrast: put dark next to light, so the motif stands out from the background.
3. Match the mood to the purpose: warm colours for a party invitation, cool colours for a calm bedroom cloth, imigongo colours for a proud Rwandan design.

3Recolour many shapes at once

1. Choose the select tool.
2. Click the first shape you want to change. Hold down Shift and click the others. They are all selected together.
3. Click the new colour once. Every selected shape changes.
4. If your motifs are grouped, you may need to ungroup them first, or double-click to go inside the group. In Paint, use the fill (paint bucket) tool on each area instead.
5. Try two or three colour schemes. Save each as a new file, for example pattern-warm and pattern-imigongo, and compare them.

4Save, export and share

• Save keeps your work in the program's own kind of file, so you can open it and change it later.
• Export makes a picture file, such as a PNG, that anyone can open on a phone or computer, or print. In LibreOffice Draw and Inkscape, look for File, then Export. In Paint, use File, then Save as, then PNG picture.
• Use your exported pattern as an exercise book cover, wrapping paper, the border of a greeting card or a design for printed cloth. No printer? Show it on the screen, or copy it by hand onto paper.

5Judge your pattern

Ask yourself, or swap with a partner:

• Is the motif clear and simple?
• Does it repeat evenly, with no gaps or crooked rows?
• Are there only a few colours, with strong contrast?
• Do the colours suit the purpose?

Then give your partner two stars and a wish: two things that are good, and one thing that could be better.

6No computer?

Colour two sets of your paper tiles in two different colour schemes. Pin them on the wall, walk to the back of the room and decide which one is easier to see.

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.