Creating pattern brushes in Adobe Illustrator is a quick and easy way of creating interesting repeat patterns. We demonstrate this useful skill in our Illustrator training courses.
To create this interior design for a mosaic floor tiling, first we turned on our document grid via the Grids & Guides section of the View drop-down menu at the top of the interface. The settings for the grid can be adjusted via the Edit > Preferences dialog (Mac: Illustrator > Preferences). We also ticked the Snap to Grid feature in the View menu.
It’s now an easy matter to create the geometric pattern on the bottom right using the Pen tool. Copy the triangles by moving and pressing on Alt (Mac: Control). When you’re happy with the repeat pattern simply drag the shapes as a group into the Brushes panel on the right of the interface. Note that in the CC (Creative Cloud) version of Illustrator you may no longer be able to simply drag the shape into the panel – you may have to use the panel options to Create New Brush. Illustrator asks which type of brush you wish to create – choose the Pattern brush option at the bottom of the list.
Then it’s a simple matter of creating a circle on your art-board and applying the new brush to the shape. Adjust the line-weight to create variations of the pattern.
Whether you’re a complete beginner or self-taught, our courses will help you gain self-confidence in your Illustrator workflow, as well as adding to your professional skill-set. Many more tips and techniques can be found at the Adobe website. And see many examples of our clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Illustrator Blog Posts:
Illustrator workspace
Illustrator basics
Illustrator clipping masks
Illustrator live trace
Illustrator brushes