PERRERNS

Patterns are simply a repetition of more than one design element working in concert
with each other. A seamless pattern is one where every element within a design (no
matter how often it’s repeated) combines to form a whole. This is most common in
backgrounds on web and app pages. It’s also popular in carpet and wallpaper design.
Look around you: your bed cover, wall, notebook cover. If you see a seamless pattern,
look at it closely. Do you see how the elements (circles, spirals, cones, pineapples, etc.)
appear again and again in the same way? Sometimes, they touch; sometimes, they have
space between them.
As you might expect, designers base most patterns on colors, textures and shapes, rather than
words. We can recognize shapes far more quickly than words, which we have to read, no
matter how quickly. You can find such patterns in architecture, too. Architects tend to include a
unifying motif on the inside and outside of buildings to enhance the aesthetic appeal. This is
nothing new. Think of ancient Greek buildings such as the Parthenon. Ancient designers could
be ingenious in their use of patterns of such elements as lines and spirals.

REPETITION
Repetition is simply repeating a single element many times in a design. For example, you could draw a
line horizontally and then draw several others next to it.

Repetition can be useful in web and app design. For example, you’d expect the logo of a business to be
repeated on every page and in the same place. Menu items are also often repeated in the same place on
a page. This helps provide a consistent user experience. By repeating elements, we as designers not only
deliver according to our users’ expectations in this way, but we also improve their experience. Our being
consistent makes the users more comfortable. Remember that the eye works in a certain way by
default. Using repetition to keep the eye familiar with our design’s elements means we’re taking
advantage of this tendency. We can also use shapes, colors, textures, fonts, etc. to maintain this
consistency via repetition.
You can also achieve repetition by using repeated messages. If you want your customers to know that
you’re the cheapest or the fastest in the business, you’ll want to tell them that on more than one
occasion if you want the message to stick. In this instance, we use repetition for reinforcement. You may
remember learning your times tables by repeating them until you drummed them into your mind. The
principle here is the same. We retain information better the more often we encounter it and internalize
it.

Rhythm
When you repeat elements, the intervals between those repetitions can create a sense of
rhythm in the viewer and a sense of movement. Musicians create rhythm in the spacing
between notes, effectively making these “silent” gaps play off the notes. Designers insert
spacing between elements to make rhythm. There are, broadly speaking, five types of
visual rhythm.

Random rhythm – Repeating elements with no specific regular interval creates

It’s also worth noting that a rhythm may appear random if you examine a small section
of the rhythm. However, if you step back and examine a larger section, it may be that
there is a regular but complex rhythm applied to the design. Remember that you have
positive and negative images, which you can use so that both the elements and the
spaces between them make your design hard to “predict”. By using a larger series of
elements, you’ll have virtually limitless possibilities to play with. The artist René
Magritte made particularly interesting use of random rhythm.

Regular rhythm – Like the beating of a heart, the regular rhythm follows the same
intervals over and over again. You can easily make a regular rhythm just by creating
a grid or a series of vertical lines. The user’s eye will instantly recognize a regular
rhythm, scanning it for any irregularities in the process. Remember, the eye “likes” to be
drawn to outstanding elements. Therefore, there is a risk that when you’re using a
regular rhythm in a design that it can become monotonous (like the dripping of a tap).

Alternating rhythm – You can repeat more than one element in a design. In an
alternating design, you use a 1-2-1-2-1-2 pattern. Think of the black and white squares
on a chessboard: that’s an alternating rhythm in play. An alternating rhythm is, in fact, a
regular rhythm with more complexity. It could be as straightforward as our chessboard,
or we could envision something more intricate. Some fantastic alternating rhythms
include rows of fish, birds, or other animals. Taking fish as an example, we can see that
each identical fish is following another. Below, the sequence is repeated; however,
the negative space between the rows shows fish of the other color (which we take to be
the background) swimming the other way, the fine lines of their fins and tails
interlocking with those of the first pattern of fish. M.C. Escher’s Lizard (1942) is another
great example of this, incorporating three colors of lizards with a pair of lizards of each
color facing away from each other, tail to tail. As simple or complex as we want to make
an alternating rhythm, it can be an easy way to break up the monotony of a regular
rhythm.

Flowing rhythm – A flowing rhythm shows the repeated elements following bends,
curves, and undulations. In nature, you can see this in the waves on a beach or sand
dunes. As designers, we can mimic nature by making wonderful patterns of elements
with flowing rhythm. We can show clumps of seaweed underwater, their strands gently
facing in a series of directions. The user imagines them washing against each other.
Progressive rhythm – We can make a progressive rhythm simply by changing one
characteristic of a motif as we repeat it. We could draw a series of circles, one above the
other, making each lower one larger. Do you see how the largest one at the bottom looks
like it’s closest to you? We can make a progressive rhythm change subtly or
dramatically. You could add shade to the smaller circles progressively so that the
smallest one at the top is dark, the middle one in partial shade, and the biggest one only
slightly shaded. Progressive rhythms surround us. If you were to video someone dancing
and then examine that video frame-by-frame, you would have a progressive rhythm.