How to do Memphis style pattern

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to share something I just learned a few days ago. I discovered this really cool pattern called Memphis style art and thought of sharing how did my own.

I was designing some cover art for a binder I am setting up to keep track of my Hive content. I looked up for some designs and came across many different ones but this Memphis style pattern caught my eyes because it stood out and looked unique compared to the others. Then I figured out that apparently it can also be used to design and decorate entire homes on the walls and sometimes even on the furnitures. I am not a fan of designs on my walls so I will stick to papers for now.

Introduction

Memphis pattern is basically made of a bunch of shapes arranged in a chaotic way in a funky style. The shapes are also accompanied by their shadow versions in bold colours and they are positioned in a chaotic way too so they should appear a little off either to the side or down or even diagonal. Colliding colours can also be used to emphasize the style more. So the rule is to not have anything in order.

The Process

If you are making this for a title cover like I am, then start by drawing a box for the words. Just eyeball how long it will be and judge based on the font and length of the title but do use a ruler to draw the box so it looks neat later. You can skip this step if you are just planning to make a page of the pattern without any titles or words.

Then, draw some geometrical shapes all around the space you want to design. They can be of any shapes but I would highly recommend them to be around the same size so there is some degree of coherent pattern. You can stick to a limited number of shape like squares and circles or you can add more like triangles and oblong shapes.

Next, take some highlighters, markers or any medium of your choice and start drawing shadows of the same shapes you drew earlier. Fill them in as well. You can choose to use different colours for a wider range of shades so it looks colourful or just stick to a certain colour palette that appeals to you like a warm reds and oranges or cool blues and greens. Though, leaving it with clashing, funky colours will be more suitable for this pattern.

Now while waiting for that space to dry, you can add your wording now, or you can skip this to the end of you're concerned about accidental smudging.

You can use any font you like but I suggest a simple calligraphy because it looks elegant. I used a calligraphy brush pen and attempted to write my title called 'Posts' as this is the cover page I'm making for that section of my binder. It's not perfect but since the alphabets are all connected, it is calligraphy, I believe.

After that, let everything to continue drying. Then, use the same pen you used earlier to draw the shapes and start drawing some wiggly or zigzag designs on whatever empty space that is left. You can also add other types of weird unconventional designs if you like. As you can see, I also did some final touch ups by adding even more shapes and some extra neon highlighters over the zigzags and tiny circles.

That's it, you are done! If you haven't add the title words, then now is the time to do it. Otherwise it is complete. This is the final outcome and it is ready to be filed.