A composition of icons drawn on a dot pattern grid.

How I create modular illustrations with the dot-connecting technique

It’s fun and easy

The idea of dot-connecting is used in many game activities and brain teasers. Usually, the challenge is to draw direct lines between dots.

As a designer, I often use this technique to generate basic illustration ideas. It’s quick and does not need a deep level drawing engagement.

The following is an example of a dot-connecting module:

Illustration 1: Connecting dots to draw a house.

For my drawing ideas, I use dot-connecting to generate variations of one particular design. It’s easy to hand-draw iconic elements and then, for a more polished version, transfer them into digital variations.

Dot-connecting-drawing is an excellent way to draw ideas on paper quickly. These drawing skills come in handy when you most need them, especially when concepting and ideating.

Here’s how to use the dot-connecting technique:

First, establish a dot pattern. This can be random or structured. In Illustration 2, I chose a dot pattern based on a flying kite. I repeat that eight times on the page for experimentation.