Design 2D Project #3

So far this has been my favorite project to work on.  To start things off, we were given a stack of pictures of different types of tools and whatnot:  hammers, wrenches, staplers, just to name a few.  I chose a bicycle pump.  Then we were to trace the picture, then single out an area using a specific shape stencil.  I used a basic square, like so...

The area inside the square is now the focus of a pattern that we are to create. I scanned it into the computer, then traced it again using Adobe Illustrator.  

Now that we have our neat little box, we are play around with it. Rotate it.  Inverse the color.  All that jazz.  In the end we were to create a wall pattern that didn't necessarily look like it came from a grid.  The students that chose a triangular pattern didn't have this problem.  The teacher wanted us to come up with at least five different patterns, then picking one to present as the finished product.  Here are the five I did, in order from my first attempt to the one I presented to the class.

What I liked about this project was that I could actually see my progression with each image.  The first one I attempted ending up looking too blocky.  Too dull.  The more I did, the more I starting seeing the possibilities of different styles.  I feel that it really took me four attempts to get to where the instructor wanted us to be.