Collagen coated surfaces have been widely used in cell culture to promote attachment of fastidious cells, including primary cells such as hepatocytes and keratinocytes. Generally, collagen derived from a non-human animal (e.g., rat tail) is employed to coat surfaces for cell culture. However, the use of such collagen can be problematic, for example, in human therapeutic applications. Although human collagen can be used for coating such surfaces, the cost is very high. Likewise, although surfaces coated with peptide sequences that mimic collagen coated surfaces have also been made to culture cells, the cost of producing such surfaces is relatively high and simply not suitable for large scale manufacturing. Thus, there is a need for methods to produce animal-free, synthetic, chemically defined surfaces that mimic collagen coated surfaces which are less costly than those presently available and suitable for large scale manufacturing as well as surfaces produced by such methods.