Two of the biggest parts of apparel design are:
Knowing your MARKET and creating design solutions that support that market (and being able to defend those decisions)
Coming up with an ORIGINAL design
In this assignment, you will need to create (at least) 3 designs for a product line. Your product line should be for something you are familiar with. You MUST find a way to connect all of these designs - AND it must be an original idea!
It must be original.
It must be original.
It must be original.
This assignment is not about curating. This means I am not looking for you to take 3 ideas that you find on the internet and redesign them so they all fit as a cohesive group. I am looking for original ideas as well as original designs.
You do not have to create products that are all the same (i.e. all t-shirts). You will have the opportunity to chose items in your line that are relevant to the industry you are designing for.
Check out product ideas on Spreadshirt and Redbubble.
PROCESS
Step one: Research & Planning
Exhaust yourself! Too often, people do the bare minimum of brainstorming and use their first idea. Remember, your first idea is not refined and is almost never your best idea.
- Who is your market? You’ll need to understand your shirt’s place in the market, so consider conducting research to discover the tastes of your customers. Your own personal tastes are a good start, but when it comes down to selling to the masses, data always beats guesswork.
- Why are you designing a shirt in the first place? What are you trying to say? What is the purpose of your design? Why would someone want to buy it?
Step two: Sketching
Come up with more designs than you need and NARROW DOWN the ones that best fit together. Remember the ideas we talked about concerning themes and connections.
Step three: Design
Photoshop or Illustrator will work. You MUST do this as a vector.
PRESENTATION
You will need to present these designs as digital mockups. People will not purchase an item if they can only see the design itself. Mockups are necessary so that potential buyers can see what your design looks like on the product.
Here are videos on the three most common types of printing apparel:
Screen Printing
Vinyl Printing
Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing
Each process has its own pros and cons.
