Resources for inspiration

Sometimes there is nothing more delightful than just jumping into the design phase and to start creating, letting inspiration come as you create.

But if you are planning to make a pattern or whole collection to be sold (be it on your own products or sold as assets to others), it’s smart to do your homework first. Not the boring kind of homework, but the deeply inspiring and energizing kind!

In this chapter, I’ll share some of the resources I and others like to use in the creative research phase.

This covers:

I do not recommend starting with these tools all at once, you’ll surely get overwhelmed! Simply pick one or two that interest you or can solve a specific challenge you’re facing right now. In a while, come back and pick up another tool. Over time, you’ll build a strong arsenal of tools that you can draw on.

The best known platform for visual discovery. Create boards to collect patterns, textures, color palettes, and reference images. Also useful for spotting emerging aesthetics.

While Pinterest helps you find and group imagery, Milanote lets you create actual moodboards with not just images, but texts, documents, notes, and more.

Yearly trend report that’s based on billions of searches. Surprisingly accurate and completely free! It helps you see what's rising before it hits mainstream.

Check out the 2026 report.

Compare search interest for styles, colors, or themes over time and across regions. Useful for validating hunches about what's gaining traction.

The Victoria & Albert Museum has an utterly amazing online collection, and it includes a large amount of patterns from throughout the age.

Be careful! Their license does not allow you to use these images without permission, though you can use them in your moodboards as reference images. If you are looking for images or patterns to use as source material in Repper, check the next section.

A long-running blog showcasing contemporary surface design from around the world. It’s excellent for seeing what professional designers are creating. There haven’t been new posts for some months, but it’s such a deep and rich archive, I did not wan to leave it out.

Rawpixel has great source material in general, but you always need to be aware of the applicable licenses, which can be complex, confusing, and cost you money. With the public domain section, you don’t have to worry about that.

Public domain means the copyright on the images has expired, so you are fee to use them as you see fit. Rawpixel has gone through the effort of validating these, so whatever you see on this page you can use in your designs.

This is my no.1 source of materials for pattern designs! It has some of the most beautiful illustrations and paintings in the world.

Using photography as source material gives a whole different look to patterns. It’s not as “easy” as using drawn materials, but can be very rewarding and give unique results.

Unsplash has a large collection of free images you can use freely for educational and commercial purposes.

In the next chapter, we’ll look at useful resources and tools while you’re designing. Let’s jump in.