PatternShow: a free mockups, portfolio, and marketplace for surface pattern designers

Imagining and creating seamless repeat pattern is the fun part of the job for a surface pattern designer, but marketing and selling your designs can be a challenge:

• How to create mockups to help customers to visualize your designs on products like wallpaper, fabric, and home decor?
• How to showcase your designs in a portfolio that is easy to share with potential customers?
• How to build a website to let customers easily discover and try your designs in different colors and scales before buying them?
• How to connect with potential customers and sell your designs online in print-on-demand marketplaces like Spoonflower or Loominate, on Etsy, or on pattern licensing platforms like Patternbank or Patterned?

PatternShow is a free platform that helps surface pattern designers showcase their work, build a portfolio, create mockups, and connect with potential customers.

Start with free mockups or a free portfolio, and then join the free marketplace to sell your designs

PatternShow is designed to work well with your existing online presence. If you already have a website, a portfolio, or a shop on Spoonflower, Etsy, or other platforms, you can easily integrate PatternShow into your existing setup. You can use it to quickly create original mockups, and you can easily link to your existing portfolio and shops where customers can buy your designs.

If you want, you can also join the PatternShow marketplace by letting customers try your designs in different colors and scales before buying them:

• Customers can try your fabric and wallpaper designs in their own rooms and homes by uploading their own photos and creating "looks" with your designs.
• Customers can also create looks with your designs on PatternShow's mockups, and share them on social media or with friends and family to get feedback before buying.

You are credited for your designs in every look created by customers, and the corresponding look pages will include direct links to your existing shops or portfolio so that customers can easily buy your designs in the right colorway and size.

It's all free

PatternShow is free to use for surface pattern designers, interior designers, sewists and customers, and there are no fees or commissions for selling your designs through the platform.

Free surface pattern mockups

PatternShow provides a growing collection of free mockups for surface pattern designers to showcase their designs on products like wallpaper, fabric, and home decor. There are currently 3 types of mockups available on PatternShow:

1. Home Decor and Fashion Sketch mockups: hand drawn illustrations of home decor and fashion sketches. A very original and appealing way to showcase your designs with a unique artistic and human touch

2. 3D Models: realistic 3D models of home decor items where you can apply your designs to the surfaces. You can rotate the 3D models to see your designs from different angles, and download it as an image or a turn video ready to share on Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok

3. Room photo mockups: realistic photos of rooms and interiors where you can apply your designs to walls. You can upload your own photos of rooms and interiors to create custom mockups, or use the free room photo mockups provided by PatternShow

Note: All the mockups on PatternShow are not AI-generated and do not include any AI-generated elements. AI-generated mockups can look perfect, but they are often too perfect and easily recognized as AI-generated, which in turn can lead some customers to wonder if the designs themselves are AI-generated.

How to create mockups with your designs

To create mockups with your designs on PatternShow, follow these steps:

1. Create a free account on PatternShow
2. Upload your designs as seamless repeat patterns
3. Choose a mockup from the free collection of mockups, or upload your own photo
4. Apply your design to the mockup and adjust the scale, colorway and position as needed
5. Optional: publish your mockup on PatternShow, and/or download it as an image or a turn video to share on social media or with potential customers

Free portfolio for surface pattern designers

You can use PatternShow to create a free portfolio to showcase your designs and connect with potential customers. PatternShow lets you easily upload your pattern designs with all the different colors and sizes you offer. Each color and size can include a direct link to your design on online shops and marketplaces like Spoonflower, Loominate and Etsy, or Patternbank, so that customers can easily buy your designs in the right colorway and size.

How to create a free pattern portfolio on PatternShow

To create a free pattern portfolio on PatternShow, follow these steps:

1. Create a free account on PatternShow
2. Upload your designs as seamless repeat patterns, and add all the different colors and sizes you offer, with direct links to your designs on online shops and marketplaces
3. In the Pattern edit form, go to the "Bulk Edit" tab to quickly copy and paste links to Spoonflower, Loominate, Etsy, Patternbank or other marketplaces for all the different colors and sizes of your design
4. All patterns marked with the visibility set to "Published" will be visible in your public portfolio, and you can share the link to your portfolio with potential customers, or add it to your existing website or social media profiles. You can also add it on your Spoonflower, Loominate, Etsy or Patternbank profile pages to enable customers to easily browser your pattern designs and their available colors and sizes.

Free marketplace to find buyers for your patterns

In addition to creating mockups and a portfolio for your designs, you can also join the PatternShow marketplace to let customers try your designs in different colors and scales before buying them. Customers can create "looks" with your designs on PatternShow's mockups or their own photos, and share them on social media or with friends and family to get feedback before buying.

How to enable customers to try your designs before buying

The steps are the same than for creating a free portfolio on PatternShow, with the addition of marking your patterns as "Allow others to use this pattern in Looks" in the Pattern edit form. This will enable customers to use your designs in their own looks, and make them visible in the look editor on PatternShow. Looks created by customers with your designs will include direct links to your existing shops so that customers can easily buy your designs in the right colorway and size.

Share your feedback and ideas

If you have ideas to improve PatternShow for pattern designers to better showcase and sell your surface pattern designs, or if you would like to suggest specific mockups, or new print-on-demand platforms or pattern licensing sites to integrate with besides Spoonflower and Loominate, please contact me at stephane@patternshow.com.