Pattern Pattern

I was scrolling through hundreds of WordPress themes, trying to pick one from the many that I liked when I realised that you can’t select any theme for a free WordPress blog. The one I chose was the nicest one from the available ones and I’ll try to customize this one before I think about buying a domain and all the hosting hassle.

Orange and green pattern by everyday icons

I won’t settle for this layout’s graphics, though (what does blue have to do with orange and green, I ask) and the first step is to create an appropriate header. The first thing I thought about was using a nice pattern and for that purpose, I looked for interesting patterns. I found lots of them and below is a list of places where you can see them.

Everyday icons playground – this is one of the most interesting sites I’ve seen lately, and the patterns (lower left corner) are wonderful. The pattern in this post’s image was made by them.

400+ High Quality Patterns – a list of links to different pattern sets. There are many and varied types of patterns there, and you might find some interesting and unusual patterns to use.

BgPatterns – make your own pattern using one of the predefined shapes. You can set the colors, the type of canvas and image size.

Tartan maker – you can create a tartan (kilt) pattern, electing size, type and colors.

Patterns List – a collection of links to pattern sets (31 links).

Pixel patterns – many many pixel patterns.

If you want to see how others have used patterns, here is a smashing magazine article showcasing some of the best designs and if you want to make your own patterns, you could try this tutorial for pixel patterns or Veerle‘s tutorials: for geometric patterns in illustrator, seamless patterns in Illustrator and create patterns in PS2 (requires Illustrator).

I hope this post was useful. If you know of any great patterns sites, please let me know