The first graphic design software I ever learned was Macromedia Fireworks. For those of you familiar with the software you may be aware of the many tileable vertical, horizontal, diagonal and crosshatch patterns that ship with the software. These patterns were great; they allowed me to quickly create graphical mockups without having to spend a lot of time trying to get background tiles to line up properly. When I began branching out to other design programs such as Illustrator or Photoshop however, I quickly noticed how those patterns were missing. I spent a lot time frustrated in those early days trying to figure out how to create repeating backgrounds. Most of the time, I simply gave up and went with a design without those elements.

That's why today I am releasing a set of 55 seamless lines & crosshatch swatches for Adobe Illustrator.  Just because it took me a little while to figure out how to design these elements, doesn't mean that you guys should go without them as well.  So feel free to use these patterns in both your personal and professional work.  They are perfect for just about any type of design and I tried to include a variety of patterns with lines of varying width and direction.

This week I have another cool set of vector freebies for you. Lately, I have been doing a lot of experimentation with seamless patterns. I have found that pattern design is both fun and challenging so this week I put together a set of 25 seamless polka dot pattern swatches for you guys.

Feel free to use these patterns in any number of ways including invitations for baby showers, birthdays, package design, website design or any other project that you are working on.

Click on the following link for a quick tutorial on how to install and work with pattern swatches in Illustrator.

I don't know about you guys, but I love argyle!  I love argyle sweaters, scarves, hats and socks; if I could find argyle pants, I'd probably wear them too.  So last weekend I decided to create a set of argyle pattern swatches for Illustrator and of course, give them away on my website.

I absolutely love creating pattern swatches, they are so fun to create and so useful as well.  You can use them in any number of ways including fashion design, textiles, package design and of course, graphic and web design.  Pattern swatches in Illustrator are so flexible in how they can be displayed.  You can scale them, rotate them, nudge them over pixel by pixel; all without having to changing the shape of your original object.  You can find a detailed tutorial on how to install and work with pattern swatches in Illustrator here.

Earlier this week I posted a set of 50 Plaid Pattern Swatches. As I explained in that post, plaid patterns have countless uses for fashion design or textiles, graphic or web design, package design and more. What makes this set different from the last set however is the simulated twill texture that I applied to it. Applying that texture took a little extra time so instead of creating 50 swatches like I did last time, this time, I only created 25. What makes swatches so great is the flexibility that they provide. You can perform a number of transformations on them including scale and rotate without affecting the shape of the object they are applied to. You can find a detailed tutorial on how to install and work with pattern swatches here.

I have always been fascinated with plaid patterns, so last week I decided to create a set of 50 plaid pattern swatches to give away on my site. Plaid patterns have countless uses for fashion design or textiles, graphic or web design, package design and more. What makes this set so great is that each seamless vector pattern has been converted to a swatch. Swatches are great because of the flexibility that they provide. You can perform a number of transformations on them including scale and rotate without affecting the shape of the object they are applied to. You can find a detailed tutorial on how to install and work with pattern swatches here.