In today’s tutorial we’re going to continue with the Horror Movie Special, and learn how to create the trippy carpet pattern from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
We’re going to create it in Adobe Illustrator using some “old-school” techniques, which involve the careful handling of the Rectangle Tool combined with the power of the Pixel Grid.
So, grab a cup of that hot coffee that you love, and let’s get started!
Oh, and don’t forget you can always find new
jaw-dropping patterns over at Envato Market, with tons of themes to choose from.
1. Set Up a New Project File
Bring up Illustrator, and set up a New Document (File > New Document or Control-N) and adjust it using the following settings:
- Number of Artboards: 1
- Width:602 px
- Height:600 px
- Units:Pixels
And from the Advanced tab:
- Color Mode: RGB
- Raster Effects: Screen (72ppi)
- Align New Objects to Pixel Grid: checked
2. Set Up a Custom Grid
Since we’re going to be creating the pattern using a pixel-perfect workflow, we’ll want to set up a nice little Grid so that we can have full control over our shapes.
Step 1
Go to the Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid submenu, and adjust the following settings:
- Gridline every: 1 px
- Subdivisions: 1
Quick tip: you can learn more about grids by reading this in-depth piece on how Illustrator’s Grid System works.
Step 2
Once we’ve set up our custom grid, all we need to do in order to make sure our shapes look crisp is enable the Snap to Grid option found under the View menu, which will transform into Snap to Pixel each time you enter Pixel Preview mode.
Now, since we’re
aiming to create the pattern using a pixel-perfect workflow, I strongly
recommend you go through my how to create pixel-perfect artwork tutorial, which
will help you widen your technical skills in no time.
3. Create the Main Repeating Element
The first thing that we’re going to start working on is the main repeating element, or rather section of the pattern, that we will use to build our larger composition.
Step 1
Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and create an 86 x 106 px shape, which we will color
using a bright orange (#DF5F18) and then align to the center of the underlying Artboard.
Step 2
Zoom in on the shape that we’ve just created, and use the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) to add two new anchor points,one to the center of its top edge, and another one to its bottom one.
Step 3
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A)to select the anchorsthat we’ve just created,and then push them towards the top by right-clicking and going to Transform > Move and entering -26 px into the Vertical value field, leaving the Horizontal one at 0 px.
Step 4
Now that we have our main shape, let’s give it a top outline, by selecting it, and then using the Move Tool to create a copy at a distance of 14 px from it (right click > Transform > Move > Horizontal: 0 px > Vertical: -14px > Copy).
Step 5
Grab a copy of the original shape (Control-C)
and paste it on top of the one that we’ve just created (Control-F) using Pathfinder’s
Minus Front Shape Mode to remove
part of its lower section, coloring the resulting shape using black (#000000).
Step 6
Add the bottom outline, using a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the one that we’ve just created, which we will position right under the orange shape, selecting and grouping (Control-G) all three shapes together afterwards.
Step 7
Using the Rectangle Tool (M) create
a 26 x 14 px shape, which we will
color using #981F24, and then Horizontal
Center Align to the Artboard, at
a distance of 50 px from the top
outline tip.
Step 8
Adjust the shape that we’ve just created by adding two new anchor pointsto its top and bottom edges, and then individually pushing them towards the outside by 8 px using the Move Tool (right click > Transform > Move > Vertical > - 8 px for the top one and + 8 px for the bottom one).
Step 9
Give the little hexagon a nice thickoutline, by selecting it and then going over to Object > Path > Offset Path and entering 12 px into the Offset value field, leaving all the other options as they are.
Step 10
Change the outline’s color to something darker (#000000) in order for it
to stand out from the inner fill shape, and then select and group them both
using the Control-G keyboard
shortcut.
Step 11
Grab a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the hexagon and its outline, and position it onto the left side of the repeating element, at a distance of 74 px from its tip, making sure that only its right half overlaps it.
Step 12
Grab a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the second hexagon detail, and position it towards the right side of the repeating element, making sure that only its left half overlaps it.
Step 13
Using the Rectangle Tool (M) create
a 12 x 62 px shape, which we will
color using black (#000000) and then center and position over the top hexagon
detail.
Step 14
Add the same 12 x 62 px rectangle (#000000) to the
other two hexagon details, only this time position it towards the top.
Once you’re done, select and group all the shapes that we’ve created so far using the Control-G keyboard shortcut.
Step 15
At this point we’re pretty much done creating the repeating element. All we need to do now is mask it so that when we start building the larger pattern, the pieces will fit nicely together.
To do that, simply create an 86 x 160 px rectangle (highlighted with orange), which we will center to the shapes that we’ve just grouped, and then use that as a Clipping Mask (right click> Make Clipping Mask).
Step 16
Once we’ve masked our repeating element, we’ll want to align it to the left side of our Artboard since we’re going to create a couple of copies of it in the next stage of our process.
4. Create the Main Section of the Pattern
Up until this point we’ve created the pattern’s main repeating element, which is great, but we’re going to need to add a couple of instances in order to get it right.
Step 1
Select the repeating element, and then create eight copies of it (Control-C > Control-F) which we will position 0 px from one another, making sure to click on the original one to set it as our Key Object.
Step 2
Select and group (Control-G) all the repeating elements together, centering them to the Artboard with the help of the Alignpanel’s Horizontal Align Center option.
Step 3
Create five more rows using the one that we have, and stack them on top of one another, making sure that their top and bottom outlines overlap. You can make the process a lot easier by lowering the opacity of the copies so that you can have a better view of the overlapping shapes.
Step 4
Once you’ve added all the rows, set their Opacity to 100%, and then group (Control-G) and vertically align them to the center of the Artboard.
Step 5
With the repeating rows in place, mask them using a 602 x 600 px rectangle so that the outward facing elements of the pattern get cut in half.
5. Create the Actual Swatch Pattern
So at this point we’re all done working on the elements needed to create the pattern, which means that we can turn it into an actual swatch library element.
Step 1
Select the masked pattern, and then go to Object > Pattern and hit Make which will bring up a new window with a couple of options which we will need to adjust. But first, let’s give it a proper name to make it easy to recognize.
Step 2
Next, we have Tile Type which we’re going to want to leave set to Grid, since our pattern elements are designed to be stacked together instead of being spread out.
Step 3
Then, we have the Width and Height which we are going to set using the actual size of our pattern (602 x 600 px).
Step 4
Leave the Overlapand Copies settings as they are, since they’ll work just fine, and then finally hit Done to add the pattern to your swatch library.
Step 5
To use the pattern, simply select it from the swatch, and then grab the Rectangle Tool (M) (or any other shape) and draw a new object, which as you will see will have that same trippy brain-damaging effect as the real one from the movie had.
It’s a Wrap!
There you have it: an easy way to create your very own “Shining” carpet, using some basic shapes and the power of Illustrator’s built-in Pattern options.
I hope that you had as much fun as I did when I first created the project, and most importantly learned something new along the way.
