Session 1 · CREATE: Arrange
From idea to motif
- 10 minChoose a subject from your context (a leaf, a tool, a bird, a shell, a shape from your family's story).
- 20 minDraw it five times, simpler each time, until it is a strong shape that works in two tones (black and white).
- 15 minTest it: cut it from paper and stamp it or photocopy it four times. Does it still read at a small size?
- 5 minWrite the motif's meaning in your diary: what does it stand for?
Session 2 · CREATE: Arrange
Repeat pattern lab
- 10 minFour repeats: block (straight grid), half-drop (every second column moved down half), mirror (flipped), rotation (turned). Link to maths transformations.
- 25 minUsing paper copies or a stamp of your motif, make all four repeats on a grid of at least 3 × 3.
- 10 minGallery walk: which repeats create new shapes where motifs meet? Which feel calm and which feel busy?
- 5 minChoose the repeat you will use for your product and explain why in one sentence.
Getting started
Use the motif template (a 5 cm square) and the block repeat.
Stretch
Design a motif that tessellates (fits together with no gaps) like the artist M. C. Escher's interlocking birds and fish.
Checkpoint
An original motif with a written meaning, and four tested repeats.
Activities for this week
- Repeat pattern lab: How many different patterns can one motif make?
Useful this week
- Graphic design ↗ How designers in Aotearoa use shape, repetition and simplicity.