Some patterns use literal aspects of the inspiration in the design. The designer will use a part of the inspiration to convey the original work to the viewers. This type of pattern is generally used in straight forward designs that need to convey one message about a narrow topic. A literal pattern tells the viewer what the design is about regardless of the other content in the design.

When a designer needs a pattern that will not carry any specific meaning, but will still fit with a general theme, they can interpret the inspiration to make a more abstract pattern. Interpretive patterns allow for a flexibility, since they do not convey a specific message with them. You will see these patterns used in designs where the content might be varied or constantly changing. The designer will want the pattern to fit the theme of the content; but not detract from it.

If the design requires a specific emotional feeling from the pattern then a designer could choose to use expressive patterns that create an abstract visual for the inspiration. The design of the pattern will not use literal elements; but share the emotional context of the inspiration. One way to examine the effectiveness of an expressive pattern is to see if a viewer will use the same adjectives to describe both the pattern and the inspiration. The use of these patterns usually falls in between the other two, when a pattern is needed to fit a narrow topic but also be flexible for different content.