Lyrois

The Paint By Numbers Guide to Making Elaborate Patterns (+ Twitter Backgrounds)

Let me suggest you tweet this:

The problem with repetitive patterns is that you get lost. I want enlightenment, or at least temporarily illuminating the dark side of intricate, entangled, lines and shapes.

We're talking about patterns here, patterns that are great to look stare at but hard to make. Well, not that hard, actually.

Starting at the end, here is the result, this is what we want, everyone --

And this is what it's made of, where pattern recognition comes into play -- the smallest atomic piece that, once repeated, makes up a whole tiled wall or wallpaper --

Now, let's deconstruct this pattern and analyze it --

The small shapes correspond to #1 while the larger figures are represented as #2.

Elements are turned upside down, rotated, mirrored, morphing into on another and through the boundaries of the boxes.

There is just one rule: The top has to fit seemlessly to the bottom and the left must fit the right -- without mirroring; any mirror effect has to take place within the tile, which doesn't have to be square, obviously.

See what happens in these inaccurately drawn, schematic tiles --

The hard part, and the art part, is to work as accurately as possible. This is important because the desired rapport is a seemless pattern.

Bonus points are awarded for avoiding the swastika pattern, which is way too easily created by rotating elements in an attempt to create visual "harmony." (Lyrois Pattern Law #1: When you think you're done, look for, and remove the swastikas.)

Free Twitter Backgrounds

I'll leave you with some ready-made tiles that you can use as your Twitter background image, just right-click, save-as, and you're done --

As for the second tile, who can tell me something about this one, concerning normalization and pattern recognition?

See also --

• Translating High-Res to Low-Res Graphics
• Lyrois Wallpapers: Electric Shapes

Labels: 2010, art, interior+design, lyrois, making+of, monogram, murals, patterns, print, store+furniture, twitter, wallpaper

Cut & Sew: The Difference between Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter

Let me suggest you tweet this:

I know that you know the difference. I also know that you know that one sells the other. But in the shop, it comes down to --

Haute Couture

Envision, design, cut, sew, repeat.

Prêt-à-Porter

Envision, design, cut, cut, cut, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, refine, refine, repeat.

Cut...

... and sew.

Working on it...

Labels: couture, cut+and+sew, fashion, haute+couture, lyrois, making+of, pret+a+porter, preview

Translating High-Res to Low-Res Graphics

Let me suggest you tweet this:

From very high-res vector graphics to low-res pixels in favicons.

Let's see how much we have to remove until the bare minimum, the essence, is left and exposed. Let's see how much we can remove. Let's see what we have to sacrifice on the way.

Check this out: 16 × 16px --

This is the original pic in 320 × 320px --

While the subject of this post is to announce the new favicon -- the little icon that is displayed in your browser's address bar, to the left of this page's URL and in your browser's bookmark list -- it brings along the beauty of simplification.

Here is the 16 × 16px version again, this time enlarged to 320 × 320px --

Now, please go back as far as your room allows and compare the two.

The design of the reduced version of that shape interpretes and translates the characteristics and lines of the original vector graphic. The original flow must survive the reduction in order to recognize the high-res fluid strokes beyond the hard and purposefully not anti-aliased 16 × 16 pixel-grid.

Does it work for you?

Labels: 2007, announcement, favicon, lyrois, making+of, miniatures, pixel+art

Headless Pixel Madness with the Dancer's Logo

Let me suggest you tweet this:

One of several variations of the dancer's logo. A production goof as it turned out.

As somebody pointed out, the dancer's head was somehow missing --

It reappeared in a later version --

Pixel by pixel, whatever it takes.

Labels: 2007, fashion, goofs, graffiti, logotypes, lyrois, making+of, pixel+art, pixel+series, special+edition, typography