Custom patterns can bring your brand fashion forward. Does your logo deserve a bigger, better sense of style? Whether making an online or in-person appearance, a brand requires a suite of assets — or wardrobe — to differentiate the organization it represents. Brand guidelines typically cover the basics, such as logo colors, fonts, maybe photo style and copy tone — the white t-shirt and jeans of marketing. But maintaining a powerful presence by ensuring visual continuity is far more complex – not unlike fashioning the signature look that makes a day-to-evening transition effortless.  By providing my clients more options, customized options, they’re able to rapidly claim brand recognition beyond the obvious. Custom branding patterns, when designed as an integrated part of a client’s branding assets, add the flexibility to “mix and match” with ease. This creates brand recognition with variety — the difference between wearing a uniform, and choosing classics with the added flair of accessories. Plus quality branding begets quality products. A well-crafted brand communicates success subliminally, if not overtly. If great care has been put into presenting information, then it must be valuable.  Case in point. When we revitalized the FCCS brand, part of the process was creating

Creating a surface pattern collection from one central design. It began with a single leaf. My contribution to a calendar promoting Chicago’s Newberry Library debuted in the month of April, then went on to become much more. The initial task was to represent the library’s Genealogy Floor by creating an image encompassing multiple American heritages with their global origins. I chose to design a tribute leaf for each country or culture based on the motifs and colors I’d researched, then loosely assembled them to form our nation’s Family Tree. Fast-forwarding to 2022: As the creative brief provided by the client had been limited to representing select continents, I expanded on the original tree by adding new leaf designs reflecting indigenous art from Latin America, Asian Pacific nations, and New Zealand, where I was born. The leaves were arranged into a repeat, while keeping the same loose placement on the bough.  Can you match up the leaf to the motif? Comment below with the leaf letter and motif name. A budding new collection. Next, I challenged myself to design to a full collection of surface patterns, iterating on the single-leaf motifs. I chose a shape or section in each motif to