BEHIND THE SCENE : SOFTWARE (part 1)

I'm going to take you behind the scene of my working process.

When I started creating quilt patterns, I had a computer using Windows, so I searched for a program other than "WORD" to draw up my patterns. 

Back then there were no "online pay monthly" systems, you would simply go to the shop, buy a box with a CDrom in it and a manual to help you install the program and a tutorial on how to use the software.

So the software I came across was PAO (Publication Assisté par Ordinateur, which means Publishing Software Helped by the Computer). I learned how to use it and started making my patterns with it.

As time was going by, I had started designing fabric, I had been taking a 3 year class in Fabric Designs and was learning to use Illustrator. After a while I wanted to upper my game and get myself a screen that would allow me to view the colors better than on the laptop. I was recommended to buy a wide screen Apple computer. And that was the best decision ever.

I am now a proud user of Illustrator on Mac, and that is a big change for me as I can really enjoy designing patterns with that tool.

Won't hide the fact that it takes time to master, and you have to try things out to get them right.

So what I have tested and would recommend, if you want to give it a go, is to watch Youtube Illustrator Tutorials. There are loads of tutorials out there, so I found that if I type: Illustrator Tutorials Logo, not only do I get beautiful logos to try out to make, but I get access to functions that are really useful for me.

As I mentioned in previous blogs, I do my research in other domains than my own, I don't search for tutorials in the quilting world, but in the design world.

Not only is it fun to try to reproduce the different art work that are available on Youtube, but turns out that it allows to discover a lot of functions that I then can use in my quilt design.

I tell you more next week...

Emmanuelle