The Beaded Project
Overview
An interactive design tool that simulates traditional bead embroidery, allowing users to build patterns bead by bead or transform images into beaded compositions.
Live Link
My Role
Interaction Design · Creative Technology · AI Assisted Prototyping
Scope
End to end experience
Timeline
1 week
Setting the context
Bead embroidery is tactile, intricate and inherently slow. I wanted to mimic some of that physicality digitally, creating a space to explore and visualise ideas before committing them to thread and beads.
Understand the different kinds of beads
A bead’s shape changes the way a line turns, a surface fills and light catches its edges. The tool brings five forms into the same workspace so that material choice becomes part of drawing.
Seed
Small, rounded beads that build fine contours and dense areas of colour. Their repeated units make gradual shading possible.
Bugle
Long, tubular beads that work well for stems, borders and the straight lines of a geometric pattern.
Drop
Rounded or tapered beads used for accents. The drop form in the tool can suggest petals, leaves and other organic details.
Tila
Flat, square beads with two parallel holes. Their tile-like form suits geometric arrangements and blocks of colour.
Sequin
Flat, reflective embellishments that add shine and broader areas of coverage. They extend the range of surface textures available in the tool.
Can you guess how many beads you would require for an embroidery like this?
3,557 beads.
And that’s before figuring out which beads to buy, what sizes you need, and how much of each colour to get.
The work begins before the stitching
A reference image can show you what you want to make, but it doesn’t tell you how to make it. Translating it into beadwork means making dozens of small decisions about bead type, size, colour and quantity, often before the first bead is stitched.
The Beaded Project brings some of that planning into the design process itself. You can experiment with materials while you create, and the tool keeps track of what you’ll need along the way.
The possibilities are endless.
An uploaded image offers another starting point for people who already have something in mind. A photograph or illustration can be translated directly into a beaded composition, ready to build on.
Made something? Send it to a friend.
"Take a photo” frames the composition as a postcard. Add a message, then share, download or copy the image.
The Beaded Project
Overview
An interactive design tool that simulates traditional bead embroidery, allowing users to build patterns bead by bead or transform images into beaded compositions.
Live Link
My Role
Interaction Design · Creative Technology · AI Assisted Prototyping
Scope
End to end experience
Timeline
1 week
Setting the context
Bead embroidery is tactile, intricate and inherently slow. I wanted to mimic some of that physicality digitally, creating a space to explore and visualise ideas before committing them to thread and beads.
Understand the different kinds of beads
A bead’s shape changes the way a line turns, a surface fills and light catches its edges. The tool brings five forms into the same workspace so that material choice becomes part of drawing.
Seed
Small, rounded beads that build fine contours and dense areas of colour. Their repeated units make gradual shading possible.
Bugle
Long, tubular beads that work well for stems, borders and the straight lines of a geometric pattern.
Drop
Rounded or tapered beads used for accents. The drop form in the tool can suggest petals, leaves and other organic details.
Tila
Flat, square beads with two parallel holes. Their tile-like form suits geometric arrangements and blocks of colour.
Sequin
Flat, reflective embellishments that add shine and broader areas of coverage. They extend the range of surface textures available in the tool.
Can you guess how many beads you would require for an embroidery like this?
3,557 beads.
And that’s before figuring out which beads to buy, what sizes you need, and how much of each colour to get.
The work begins before the stitching
A reference image can show you what you want to make, but it doesn’t tell you how to make it. Translating it into beadwork means making dozens of small decisions about bead type, size, colour and quantity, often before the first bead is stitched.
The Beaded Project brings some of that planning into the design process itself. You can experiment with materials while you create, and the tool keeps track of what you’ll need along the way.
The possibilities are endless.
An uploaded image offers another starting point for people who already have something in mind. A photograph or illustration can be translated directly into a beaded composition, ready to build on.
Made something? Send it to a friend.
"Take a photo” frames the composition as a postcard. Add a message, then share, download or copy the image.
The Beaded Project
Overview
An interactive design tool that simulates traditional bead embroidery, allowing users to build patterns bead by bead or transform images into beaded compositions.
Live Link
My Role
Interaction Design · Creative Technology · AI Assisted Prototyping
Scope
End to end experience
Timeline
1 week
Setting the context
Bead embroidery is tactile, intricate and inherently slow. I wanted to mimic some of that physicality digitally, creating a space to explore and visualise ideas before committing them to thread and beads.
Understand the different kinds of beads
A bead’s shape changes the way a line turns, a surface fills and light catches its edges. The tool brings five forms into the same workspace so that material choice becomes part of drawing.
Seed
Small, rounded beads that build fine contours and dense areas of colour. Their repeated units make gradual shading possible.
Bugle
Long, tubular beads that work well for stems, borders and the straight lines of a geometric pattern.
Drop
Rounded or tapered beads used for accents. The drop form in the tool can suggest petals, leaves and other organic details.
Tila
Flat, square beads with two parallel holes. Their tile-like form suits geometric arrangements and blocks of colour.
Sequin
Flat, reflective embellishments that add shine and broader areas of coverage. They extend the range of surface textures available in the tool.
Can you guess how many beads you would require for an embroidery like this?
3,557 beads.
And that’s before figuring out which beads to buy, what sizes you need, and how much of each colour to get.
The work begins before the stitching
A reference image can show you what you want to make, but it doesn’t tell you how to make it. Translating it into beadwork means making dozens of small decisions about bead type, size, colour and quantity, often before the first bead is stitched.
The Beaded Project brings some of that planning into the design process itself. You can experiment with materials while you create, and the tool keeps track of what you’ll need along the way.
The possibilities are endless.
An uploaded image offers another starting point for people who already have something in mind. A photograph or illustration can be translated directly into a beaded composition, ready to build on.
Made something? Send it to a friend.
"Take a photo” frames the composition as a postcard. Add a message, then share, download or copy the image.
