Drip.Dot.Swirl. by Von Glitschka
Vonsterbooks.com
Artist Von Glitschka has a new book out called Drip.Dot.Swirl. 94 incredible patterns for design and illustration. The illustrative pattern book features a large collection of patterns to inspire you in your design work. In fact, the book comes with a companion DVD of all the vector patterns so you can modify them and use them in your own projects, from web site to promotional material, or even your digital craft projects. You can read more about Von’s new book on his blog, Art Backwash and follow him on Twitter at @Vonster.
See more interiors from the book in the sample spreads PDF.
I was really inspired by Von’s book and got a chance to ask him a few questions about design and illustration.
Natalie: Please tell us about your background in design and your new book.
Von: I’ve been doing what I call illustrative design for over 23 years now. My work reflects a good mix of both design and illustration so my new book which is all about illustrative pattern designs leverages both of these disciplines in a wide variety of styles.
Natalie: Where do you find your inspiration?
Von: So many things over the course of the year I worked on this played a part in inspiring me. Some specific sources were things I saw in nature, conceptual words I tried to visually create, doodles I did, old tapestries by William Morris influenced my design as well. Once you start creating patterns though, it’s hard to turn it off. I just did this one the other day just for fun.
Natalie: Do you have any tips to our readers on how to create their own patterns?
Von: I put together this simple step-by-step tutorial that walks you through creating a tile pattern. The download includes 12 step-by-step images and a notes file.
Natalie: What are your must have “tools” you use to create (digital and/or real items)?
Von: Brain, pencil, paper, computer. Everything is birthed in analog and created in digital.
Natalie: What are you working on this summer?
Von: Starting a new book project due in about a year.
Book Giveaway Time!
One lucky CRAFT winner is going to win an autographed copy of Drip.Dot.Swirl. as well as a bonus set of 12 patterns not in the book! Just leave a comment to this post and tell us why you want this book. Make sure you enter in your email address in the form field (won’t be published). All comments will be closed on Thursday at 5pm PST. The winner will be announced later this week on the site. Good luck!
Download this free “Memory Lock” pattern
174 thoughts on “Book Interview and Giveaway: Drip.Dot.Swirl.”
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Why do I want this book? Hmmm…how ’bout because it looks FREAKING awesome!!! I’m fanatical about great design and having this book would give me a diversion from my kids’ Good Night Moon book!
Seriously, I need an adult book in my house. Come to think of it, my 7-mo-old baby would probably enjoy staring at the patterns, too!
Love that the book walks you through the steps to creating these patterns — and even comes with a DVD of the vectors. I’m always tinkering around in PhotoShop and Illustrator creating designs for my websites.
Wow! I love design and am fascinated with pattern design. I love the images and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of that book! I could spend hours just pouring over the images!
My husband and I are starting a Martial Arts business. We want to avoid the Primary Color love-fest that permeates Martial Arts advertising. “Drip. Dot. Swirl.” will help us make beautiful print material that goes outside the red, blue, yellow mold. Thanks for all the giveaways!
-Julia
I’d like to have this book to give my wife and I inspiration as we plan to redecorate our 1960 ranch home.
The patterns in the sampler are so great! I’m an apparel and textile designer so I would absolutely love this book. Plus I’m so glad that authors are starting to add bonus media with their books, how brilliant. This book looks awesome, thanks for highlighting it!
I love the colors and shapes they use in this book. It would be great inspiration to go out and be crafty. It would be a good learning tool to be able to attempt to create my own patterns and a great opportunity to learn something new.
I would love to have this book because I am always looking for inspiration in my crafting and this would be the perfect inspiration!
I love finding new inspiration for designs for my printable craft projects. This looks like a great resource for design ideas!
I would love to have this. I think these designs could be adapted into awesome patchwork and quilting patterns.
This book will be an inspiration for my crafting, I need all the help I can get! ;)
I could use some inspiration as I start my summer projects, and this book looks like it would more than do the trick!
I am mesmerized by the beautiful patterns. I need the book because I wanna see them all!
This book looks awesome, and the fact that it comes with a companion DVD of editable vector patterns is even AWESOME-R!
I’d love this book because my best friend gave me a gift certificate to Spoonflower for my 35th birthday so I could design my own fabrics, but it’s just been sitting there because I can’t even begin to dream up anything good enough to print. Von’s patterns would look dreamy on fabric. Sigh…
Looks super awesome. My girlfriend (an ubercrafter) would love to play with theese designs and so would I.
We move quite often and with every home we move into, there are new spaces to decorate and make our own. Since this is the 6th time in 6 years, I’m starting to run out of inspiration – this would be the perfect book for fresh ideas! :)
This would make the perfect gift for my best friend who is currently gigantic pregnant! She’s a graphic designer and this would be great tool for her to use while on Maternity Leave!
Why do I need this book? I’ve been staring at this page for quite awhile now, unable to pull myself away from the mesmerizing patterns. I feel as if I’ve fallen into them and don’t want to leave. Each individual pattern has a way of evoking new and unique emotions that beg to be explored.
I can imagine using these patterns in so many ways… on pillows, furniture, and any craft I can come up with. I’m excited to see how the patterns are created so I can expand my own abilities.
Please, consider me in your decision.
mebenetal@gmail.com
I used to do a lot of website design, but after a particularly rough year, I’m having a lot of trouble enjoying the hobbies I used to. A design book like this seems like just the thing to kick my butt into gear. Websites, fabrics, decorative paper – there’s so much inspiration to be drawn here! Maybe it would even get me motivated enough to finally make that site for my crochet patterns that I’ve had half-planned for months! I need this book, please!
OH!! it looks gorgeous!!! i would love to have it: will help alot with my redecorating project and my soon come to life children studio.
I need this book because I’m moving! The designs are absolutely enthralling, and I’d love to use them in decorations in what will ultimately be the first home that is actually my own.
our friends just finished designing our wonderful wedding invitations and this would make the perfect thank you gift!
I need it so that I can more easily persuade my craftily-inclined husband to make stuff for me. “Hey! Don’t you have that Drip.Dot.Swirl book?! Why don’t you take a look through it for some inspiration and make “x” for me?!”
Though I am sure this book would inspire and inform many of my projects, I would love to own it just to be able to *look* at it whenever I wanted…
This has a thousand uses. I’m a graphic designer who loves to craft.
Here’s the first project that popped into my head: I just got a silk screening aparatus for my birthday, and was would love to expermient with some subtle “damask” like prints of black ink on black fabric. An all-over pattern would be perfect.
I am not a designer at all so I need all the help I can get. This book would be perfect in helping me out.
How important it is to appreciate the finer things in life like repetition, color theory, simplistic shapes and Macs fully loaded with Creative Suite 4.
That is the good life and this book can lead me down that road if so lovingly granted to myself.
Thanks, and have a good day!
I’d LOVE to have that book from Mr Von Glishka added to my collection.
I would like this book for the inspiration alone. The fact that it includes 12 step-by-step images and a notes file. Awesome!
Great work collected in what is sure to be a valuable resource for any creative.
Von Glitschka is an incredible artist. It would be like a touch of his greatness in all that i create using his patterns.
Because it just doesn’t get better Von Glitschka. Can’t wait to get my hands on this new book!
Von is a great illustrative designer. I am inspired by his work and would love the opportunity to get my hands on his book to learn from his awesomeness.
I am addicted to books and can’t get enough of them. This book would be a great addition to my collection as well as helping me grow as a designer and giving me tools to succeed.
That is why I NEED THIS BOOK.
I would LOVE to use this book as inspiration for my baby daughter’s and her big brother’s bedroom–they have to share and I’m sure there are great patterns that they both would love!
Love the patterns! This book would be a great inspiration for me as a budding web designer.
I want to win this Glitscka because he one of the best people to follow & learn from on Twitter, Craft is just… cover all my crafts wants and needs. I want to win to become a better illustrator help make the world and web a prettier place.
I stumbled upon his blog, and was thrilled to find he’s actually a local guy, to me anyway. I’ve been wanting to get one of his books, and when this one came out I was poised to purchase… well, once the whole fiscal picture resets and I get some $$$. So a freebie would be VONderful.
I too appreciate that he’s a designer who is selling his art, but also his knowledge. He’s helping others to use tools to unleash their own creativity. That’s a huge positive contribution to the world, IMHO!
I would love to incorporate some of these awesome patterns into things I do!
i am a digital illustrator myself, but i have always concentrated on images, now i find myself longing to tinker with repeating patterns but not knowing where to start. i could certainly use the help!
“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing whats next or how… The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.”
– Ages deMille
In my opinion, Von is doing something special, I would like to know about his leaps, and this book looks like something that would aid me in my next leap.
∞
I need this book because I spend my days looking at numbers. My eyes need happy eye candy for a change.
I could marvel at these patterns all day. Von never disappoints – he’s a design hero!
I would love this book! We have a new house to decorate!
I’m a huge fan of Von’s work and love what I have seen in the previews of this publication.
This book looks as though it’s everything I am terrible at, and exactly what I want to learn more about.
I suck at illustration. I can’t draw to save myself. I’m not even that great at putting colours together. I can just about circle something I want to draw attention to in a photo, in Paint. I need serious help and I think this book might be a first step in the right direction.
These patterns are wonderful! I would love to look at more of them.
That’s why I need this book. I live in a little town in Mississippi where it is hard to get my hands on pretty things. Plus, my art students need resources, and I can’t go buying them all myself!
What a useful book! Patterns are addicting!
Or at least it would be if I had this book! I create a lot of scrapbook pages, invitations, photo collages, and origami; my downfall has always been my inability to create backgrounds of my own… this would really energize me to be more creative!
Please, pretty please, with a cherry on top?
This book looks wonderful! I’ve just been redecorating and planning on creating a website; this book would be indispensable!
I have been experimenting heavily with designing repeating patterns and this book is what I have been searching for. Someone had to make a modern book about pattern design. I love this and hope I win!
I love these pattern books – one of my many hobbies is surface design. I love looking through these books for inspiration!
These patterns are a great way to get some inspiration. Not to mention, the CD would be a good kick in the pants for me to get back to working with Photoshop!
I am inspired by the patterns already. Would love a whole book of them
I really need this book… I am desperate for inspiration, I am in such an art block, and as an illustration student I am under so much pressure to create great work.. I love patterns, and the patterns of this book, I think it would help me out of this funk.
It’s such a great idea for a book, the patterns are beautiful, whoever wins it is very lucky.
I’m a poor design student who drools over patterns. At the moment I can’t afford new books and this one would go lovely with my three other pattern design titles! Plus my Crumble.Crackle.Burn book looks lonely. Thanks! Did I mention I love patterns? I love patterns!!!
i’d love to give this book to my designer friend for his birthday. it’d be incredibly invaluable for him (he’s self-taught), both as a reference, and as a learning too. I’m always looking for good, inspirational, design-related stuff for him and this looks perfect!
This book looks so informative and inspiring. I think it would be great to help me get closer to my goals by learning more through this book. Thank you for featuring this!
I need this book because I’ve been in a bit of a creative slump and need some inspiration.
I would love to have this book, I’m a bookbinder and would love to use some of the patterns to make some really fun books!
This book looks awesome! It looks like it would be a great inspiration book to have, what a fabulous idea for a book. I studied Design and i’m always interested in anything design related.
why would i like this book. let me count the ways…too many to list here, that’s for sure! awesome inspiration!
I work for the city I live in and need to create a lot of presentation materials…. since I’m not trained in graphic design it’s always a struggle to make interesting, eye-catching designs for our materials. I would LOVE a book full of tips and patterns!
I would love to have this book to escape boring “professional” looking stationary and business cards. It looks like a great source for eye-catching and individual designs with all kinds of applications.
I am a dot-a-holic!!!
Drip. Dot. Swirl would be a great complement to my craft book collection as I’ve recently taken an interest in pattern books as well. I would likely use the patterns for making my own stationery or backdrops in framed family photos. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
I recently got into vector graphic design when I was designing a stationery set for publication with my school’s press, and then continued on to create a vinyl window decal for my school’s psychology department. I would really love to have this book not only because it would help me continue to expand my skills with vector graphics, but also because I have experience with a number of really cool mediums that use vector graphics, including vinyl cutters and laser engravers, which I’ve used a lot lately for crafts!
I love patterns of all kinds and this would be an excellent book to linger in…
As an Illustrator, I’m always looking for new patterns to use in my work. This would be a really handy book to have!
the patterns are beautiful and evocative…they need repeating (over and over and over) for simple joy’s sake!
Those patterns are beautiful and I would love to use them in some of my web design work.
This book looks so cool. I need it because I’m a starving graphic design student and the inspiration would push my portfolio to a new level of awesomeness!
I’d really love to have this book. To look into it for inspiration whenever I get stuck om one of my intrigate designs I’m drawing maually. And because I’m just reading this blog since a year and NOW feel the need to leave a comment!
Now that I am in to the internet and photo shop trying to keep fresh ideas coming, this book would be great to keep this senior (66) going for another 66.
Great …Vie
I’m a needlepoint designer and finding (and adapting) wonderful patterns to use as backgrounds in needlepoint is one of my passions.
I love looking at and developing these kinds of patterns and getting inspiration from the colors and designs.
I’d learn so much which is useful and have such a rich source of inspiration with this book
Keep Stitching,
Janet
Wow! I’d love to have this book. My mom and I have run out of ideas for things to do, so this would be a great book to have. Wow. Wowwie wow wow. If I won this that would be so awesome!!!!!!!
Why do I want this book? Because I’m a sucker for pattern and always looking for great new sources of inspiration for my bookshelves!
I would love to win this book. I am just learning about creating patterns and as I am embarking into the design world, I would love to have another reference for inspiration!
This book looks like it reveals some of the secrets of design – secrets that can be applied to creating anything.
Roses are red
and violets are blue
If I win the Drip.Dot.Swirl book
I can survive on my graphics instead of my poetic doo!
please pick me…
Love – Need it – Want it!
I totally need this book. Definitely a new fan. The other book he has out on textures looks great, too!
I’m a graphic designer and I’ve been a fan of Von Glitschka’s work for some time now, ever since I first saw his tutorials on illustrationclass.com , I want to recommend them to you all! It would be great to learn more about his style, that’s why I would love to have that book.
With all the newly added stress added to a lot of our lives, it seems hard to leave it at home, and get down to the business of being creative.
This book offers fresh and creative ideas for those of us who are “creativly constipated”!
Please pick me!
THX!
I could use this book for my high school students as inspiration for their negative space projects. I’ve been wanting to design some fabric on spoonflower and I think this book would be helpful in creating my own designs.
This book is inspiring me to add a differnt pattern to all the walls in my house!
I would love this book because I adore patterns. I would use this in my painting practice as well as with my students