Creating Digital Patterns

1Four ways to repeat a motif

• Straight repeat (also called a block repeat): the motif sits in neat rows and columns, like desks in a classroom.
• Half-drop: every second column moves down by half a motif, like bricks in a wall. It looks less stiff.
• Mirror repeat: every second copy is flipped, like a reflection in water. Look what happens with a simple half-red, half-black square: the triangles join up into big diamonds and zigzags, just like imigongo!
• Rotation: each copy is turned a quarter turn (90 degrees) from the last, making a pinwheel.

2Make a straight repeat, fast

1. Open your motif and check it is grouped (Paint users: select a box around it).
2. Copy and paste it: Ctrl and C, then Ctrl and V.
3. Line it up. Drag the copy until its edge touches the first motif exactly. Snap to grid helps. For tiny moves, press the arrow keys on the keyboard.
4. Make a row of four motifs the same way.
5. Copy the whole row. Select all four, group them, then copy and paste the row and move it underneath. Now you have 8 motifs.
6. Copy the two rows together to get 16, then 32. Each copy doubles your pattern!

LibreOffice Draw also has a Duplicate command in the Edit menu. You type how many copies you want and how far apart they should be, and it makes the whole row in one go.

3Half-drop, mirror and rotation

• Half-drop: make one column, copy it, move the copy to the side and then down by half a motif. If your motif is 4 cm tall, move it down 2 cm.
• Mirror: select a copy and use Flip, then Horizontally or Vertically. It is in the Shape menu in LibreOffice Draw, the Object menu in Inkscape, and under Rotate in Paint.
• Rotation: use Rotate to turn each copy 90 degrees more than the one before.

4Check your pattern

Zoom out (in the View menu, or hold Ctrl and scroll) to see the whole page. Look for gaps between motifs, motifs that overlap by mistake, and rows that are not straight. A good pattern flows evenly with no "holes".

5No computer? Paper tiles

1. Use your card template to draw the motif on 12 small squares of paper, all the same size, and colour them.
2. Cut them out and lay them on your desk in a straight repeat.
3. Now try a half-drop, then flip every second tile over (colour the back too) to make a mirror repeat.
4. Choose the arrangement you like best and glue it onto a sheet of paper.

6Look closely

William Morris was an English designer who made patterns for wallpaper and cloth. He designed Daisy, one of his first wallpapers, in 1864. It was printed by hand, one colour at a time, with carved wooden blocks.

• Find one clump of orange flowers. Now find the same clump again. How many times can you count it?
• Look at the rows. Does each plant sit straight below the one above, or between two plants, like bricks in a wall?
• Morris used plant motifs. How is this pattern different from a geometric imigongo pattern?

Try it yourself

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