ILLUSTRATION IN THE FASHION PROCESS

Technical drawing is one of the methods used in the fashion design process to present a garment in a visual format. The others are sketching and fashion illustration. Each has a specific function and thus demands a specific set of drawing requirements and techniques.

SKETCHING

A sketch is a rough, spontaneous drawing that is not necessarily accurate or even in proportion. It is the beginning of an idea, the inspiration. You can sketch from your imagination, from an existing style or from reference. If you are producing store reports, or gathering field information, the aim is to note down a rough interpretation of a garment with key details that can be deciphered easily at a later stage if required.

Part of design development, the sketching process is when you let your imagination run riot, investigating sources of inspiration and abstract themes. It is the stage when you can work freely and experiment, thinking on paper. Usually produced by hand, the sketches can be drawn using any media.

FASHION ILLUSTRATION

The aim of a fashion illustration is to seduce and enhance, rather than provide technical information. Apparel is often illustrated on the figure to give an idea of a garment’s proportions and how it will look when worn. Fashion illustrations are used in advertising, in catalogs, magazines, brochures, pattern books, and promotional material. A successful illustration will show mood, attitude, silhouette, proportion, and color to assist in the marketing of the garment. Its aim is to sell garments or to promote a brand.

Containing emotion, energy, flair, creativity, and often movement, the fashion illustration allows the illustrator artistic freedom to inject their own personality and character into the drawing. With this freedom comes the artistic license to alter the proportions of the female body. Traditionally, the proportion of the female figure in fashion illustration is measured in heads, where the height of the figure can be calculated by dividing the height of the head into the length of the body. Fashion illustration typically elongates the female form to a proportion of nine to ten heads, resulting in a visually pleasing slender image, in contrast to the true average female height of approximately seven-and-a-half "heads."

Fashion illustrations today are created using a wide variety of media, ranging from traditional artistic materials to 2D and even 3D CAD (computer-aided design) software.

FLATS

Flats are a form of visual communication and instruction between the designer and the manufacturer, between the designer and buyer, and between a designer and a lay person. They are widely used throughout the apparel industry, in the design room (for design development and on line boards), in production (on costing and on specification sheets), and in marketing (in look books and on price lists).

Also known as "working drawings" or "line drawings," technical drawings are an accurate representation of a garment without a figure, summarizing styling details and showing construction, including construction lines, stitching, and decorative trims and details. They are drawn to scale, are symmetrical, and in perfect proportion. Accurate flats are usually produced once a design has been finalized, and may be produced by hand or using CAD software.