Patterns in the wild: Examples of great pattern usage in design

Just wanted to do a quick round-up of websites that use patterns in their designs and use them well. From bold to subtle, these are some samples of great design work that integrate patterns.

Redefine
The Sydney-based agency Redefine uses a very bold geometric pattern. It’s usually pretty risky to go so loud and busy on a background pattern, but in this case the pattern works very well. The color palette chosen is also very nice.

Campluxe
Campluxe uses an extremely subtle pattern, but it really helps strengthen the branding and the look and feel of the site. The pattern is a geo/iconic repeat that reuses the icons in the navigation.

Clearspan Media
I love Argyle. The Clearspan Media site uses a big, gunmetal blue style argyle background up top to give the page a visual foundation and help put more focus on the headline and portfolio samples. Also a nice touch is the much more subtle patterned and textured backgrounds used to separate different content sections on the page.

Pukkelpop 2011
It’s bright, loud and awesome. The blue dotted background up top and the big, bold green geo pattern below do a great job at illustrating the purpose and content of the site. Another hard pattern design to pull off in a design, but they do it well.

Ruhland & Ruhland
Another great example of a background pattern used to strengthen the brand. The pattern shape and coloring really make the brand pop more and put more focus on the content. The elements in the pattern look very much like the starbursts in the logo – and then again used in the navigation.

Sketchnotes
A great example of turning the content into a background pattern. It’s a tad busy, but very fun and helps strengthen the product in this case.

Electrip Pulp
Electric Pulp uses a nice, subtle dotted pattern that borders along the lines of texture. A nice, minimal way to give a little extra depth to an overall design.

Shane Guymon
Shane’s site has a nice example of an icon/illustrated background. Loving the sneakers and cassette tapes.

Seen more great examples in the wild? Please leave a link below or shoot me a message and I’ll include it in the next round-up. Thanks!