: Do most web designers make their own textures? I'm a web developer by training who is branching into UI/UX design. One of the things my design work lacks compared to experienced designers is

@Margaret771

If you're on a Mac you should check out PatterNodes, it's an app for making custom patterns using a parametric interface that makes it very easy to tweak the result and make something subtle, but your own. www.lostminds.com/content/product.php?patternodes

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@Caterina889

The good ones do.

Generally a good designer has a library of custom patterns they refer to. Most "found-on-the-web" patterns are lacking something whether it's good seams, transparency, or whatever. There are some good one's out there (subtlepatterns.com being one of those). But they are rare.

There are millions of tutorials on creating patterns.

Once you understand construction, it's merely a matter of proper artwork and a designer's eye to know what is too much.

In addition, many textures are created by layering various patterns on top of one another. It's helpful to construct transparent patterns with minimalism in mind, then stack them for more complex appearances. This method offers far more versatility when creating.

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@Si6392903

Generally yes, In my experience the designers will create most texture effects like that on their own, if they feel confident they can do it. There are of course alternatives like free image sourcing sites, and paid sites as well like istockphoto.com etc.

When I'm designing a website, I tend to make the textures myself to avoid copyright violations on images. If I see a texture I particularly like I'll always try to recreate it myself before using an already existing image.

Hope that helps somewhat.

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