Animation stages

To show this artwork’s structure, the animation transforms a single shape to the final tessellation. Here’s a summary of the stages. (See the Symmetry Tutorial for a full explanation.)

	This artwork uses tessellation symmetry Squares, with inner mirror and 4-way rotation. The arrows show how edges are related in the initial tile. Related edges always have matching shapes, so adjacent tiles interlock.
	Using the edge relationships, add a tile adjacent to each edge. Flags and colors show how each tile is oriented.
	Move corner points to change the initial shape. Related points also move, so tiles remain adjacent.
	Reshape each edge. Related edges are also reshaped, so tiles remain adjacent.
	Add detail and color to the key tile.
	Duplicate the key tile to make a group with one tile in each orientation.
	Duplicate the group in two directions to form the final artwork!

Note that these steps show the artwork’s structure, not necessarily how it was created. Tessellation artists work in many different ways, with processes that are often quite different from these steps.