Since I posted my set of 50 Plaid Pattern Illustrator Swatches I've had quite a few requests for a tutorial on how I created them. The cool thing about plaid patterns is that they are very easy to create; so easy in fact that you can create them in about 4 steps. In this tutorial, I will guide you through the steps necessary in order to create a Burberry style pattern swatch in Illustrator.
Step 1: Select your color paletteFor this tutorial I will be using the following colors:
#B39D62
#45402D
#E8EEDC
Step 2: Draw horizontal lines
In this step draw 8 rectangles as shown. Make sure to keep each rectangle is exactly the same width and make sure that none of the rectangles overlap. When you are finished, make sure that the total height of all 8 rectangles matches the width (a perfect square).
Step 3: Duplicate, Rotate and Change Transparency
Select all your shapes. Copy and paste them to front. Rotate them 90 degrees counter clockwise and set transparency to 50%.
Step 4: Create and Apply Swatch
Open up your swatches palette. Now select your entire pattern and drag it into the palette. Once you've created your swatch, draw a rectangle and apply the swatch.
Download Source File
If you would like to download the source file, you may download it here.
Working with Pattern Swatches
For more information on how to manipulate pattern swatches take a look at my tutorial on Working with Pattern Swatches in Illustrator.
November 17, 2008 11:25 AM
Very cool. :) I love the ideas you come up with for freebies/tutorials, they're always something I would never have thought of.
November 17, 2008 2:25 PM
Hiyaaaaa.... really useful tutorial. Saved and bookmarked! and I've subscribed to your blog by email as well.
Looking forward for more tutorial and keep up the good work ;)
November 17, 2008 3:33 PM
I can't believe how easy it is to create a plaid pattern!! And here I thought people spent several hours doing this... Thank you! Hope your logo design is going well. Are you going to re-design your site too or just add the new logo to it?
November 18, 2008 5:24 PM
very very nice, although i feel like it is not the exact same burberry stripe - they have a thinner secondary line and it is red! but we can always edit it! THANKS!
November 18, 2008 7:42 PM
Nice simple tutorial - thanks for the tips