Printed Textile Design

Amanda Briggs-Goode

• Publisher: Laurence King Publishing
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781780671185
• eBook ISBN: 9781780675428
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

This books explains the fundamentals of printed textile design, from design brief through to the completed collection, and introduces the basics of colour, drawing, composition and repeat with a series of step-by-step exercises and examples. Printed Textile Design helps to demystify the design process and provides an invaluable guide to the study and practice of textile design. The book includes case studies of designers working in both the fashion and interiors sectors. It covers hand and traditional print techniques and the latest digital print technologies, with specially commissioned photographs of the processes. All aspects of textile design are covered, from sustainability to manufacturing and marketing the finished product.

1

DESIGN IN CONTEXT

INTRODUCTION

DESIGN IN CONTEXT

In this chapter we will define the context within which printed textile designers develop and resolve design collections for manufacture in the fashion or interior markets. When printed textile designers are considering how to respond to a design brief (an outline of the project’s design parameters) they will begin by synthesizing and considering their knowledge and experience of four main strands, or components that provide context for the project: design inspiration; design styles and print heritage; market levels; and trend prediction. The interpretation of these strands will form the backdrop or foundation for the designer’s creative work.

Design inspiration will be specific to the brief the designer is working with, and might include a concept, theme, colour palette and product application. The first step may be creating a mood board to assist the designer in maintaining a focus for ideas. The mood board may include the designer’s own or found imagery to suggest ideas for colour, image, texture, style or product application.

Printed textile designs tend to be organized into style categories, of which the four main ones are floral, geometric, conversational and world cultures. Each of these categories has sub-sections; understanding their characteristics enables you to communicate and respond to a design brief by articulating a breadth of design ideas, both visually and verbally. The heritage of historical printing processes influences and shapes printed textile design, not only through the varied techniques used to transfer images onto cloth, but also through its visual library of image qualities, from which you can choose for image-making purposes, according to the style you wish to develop. While some of these processes are now redundant or exist only in small niche markets, the styles that are associated with them have their own qualities of line, effects or layouts.

Textile designers must also be aware of the framework in which the industry operates, which includes market levels and trend cycles. Market levels, which can be described as being high, mid or mass, define the price-point of a product and the type of consumer who may purchase it. The market level influences the decisions that designers make in relation to the development of their design collection. We might find that the same types of image may be simplified or made more challenging, depending on whether the market level is low or high. A higher price-point may mean that the product uses more luxury fabric or more complex processes than would a product with a lower price-point, where mass production requires standardization and cheaper raw materials.

Textile design and manufacturing function within the ‘fashion system’, which enables the industry to control the process of ‘planned obsolescence’ by creating demand for new products while enabling retailers to minimize risk. This is done for both interiors and fashion through international trend prediction and fashion forecasting companies. Trend changes are processed and communicated through colour cards, publications, the Internet and at trade fairs. These tools are intended to guide the design or development of products for a particular season in terms of mood, colour, image and materials.

This mood board by Anna Piper shows her design inspiration in terms of colours, marks, scale and proportion.

In Anna Piper’s final design collection we can see how her designs incorporate the linear qualities and ‘accidental’ marks seen in her mood board.

THE DESIGN BRIEF

A design brief is assigned by a client or developed by the designer, and functions as an outline of the project’s design parameters. These generally include: the concept, theme or inspiration, perhaps with some visual examples; the target market or consumer; the product application (fashion, interiors, womenswear or menswear, etc.); and the colour palette, which may refer to a colour trend or a particular range of colours chosen by the client.

The design brief should also outline the client’s expectations: the number of designs (a collection usually contains between six and ten); any technical requirements; size and colour limitations; and whether design repeats are needed. In some businesses the brief may also include information about how the design will be manufactured, the type of fabric to be used, and the time-scale and costing required. A brief may be just a paragraph or it can be more expansive.

This brief should provide enough information for you to begin the process of researching and developing ideas for your design inspiration – the theme for your drawings, photographs or imagery that you will employ to develop your collection successfully and fulfil the brief. The heritage of printed textiles helps support design thinking at this stage, in that previous design styles and printing processes can influence the way in which you move forward with your theme. You also need to consider the trend predictions and market level appropriate to your project.

An example of a commercial design brief entitled ‘Vintage Feminine’ reads as follows:

For a mass-market womenswear collection you should explore pattern and colour to develop dramatic and memorable prints, using soft base tones mixed with intense colours such as powder blue, aqua, primrose and hot pink to suggest a vintage inspiration. Abstract imagery can be offset with vintage florals, and layered with images of lace and embroidery to further suggest the concept of feminine beauty through elegant draping. Drama can be added with a playful and contrasting approach to scale and proportion.

The collection should include a minimum of eight designs, in repeat, for use at the mass-market level. Colourways will utilize the given palette in combinations of up to eight colours; alternative colourways are optional. The prints should be appropriate for screen printing on feminine, floaty fabrics for women’s dresses and separates, and the project should include visualizations using your designs. Your print designs will be the focal point of the project, and must demonstrate a creative yet commercial approach.

In another example, design student Sophie Bard uses her primary design inspiration to create a design brief for her own collection called ‘Lost in a Parisian Wilderness’. In the process she provides an excellent picture of the research, inspiration and connective steps used in developing a design collection:

Paris is the main inspiration because of the beautiful design aesthetics of the city, and the concept is inspired by a day spent wandering around Paris.

The variety of visual inspiration I found in Paris will allow me to work towards an eclectic aesthetic and to produce drawings of different elements: animals, birds and butterflies; musical instruments; jewellery; vintage fashion figures; sky, clouds and light; flowers; architecture; ornate gold details; and clocks and timepieces. References to Art Deco and Art Nouveau are notable in these elements, and I am trying to convey a luxurious decadent feeling in my designs to link to the moods of the periods.

I am inspired not only by Art Deco and Art Nouveau artists such as William Rowe, but also by Surrealism and the dreamlike illustrations of contemporary designers such as Pomme Chan, Vault 49 and Uberpup. The collection also includes ideas for a lighting concept, inspired by the work of design collectives such as Assume Vivid Astro Focus, wallpaper designer Maria Yaschuk and Patternity Studio, who integrate lighting with exciting surface imagery.

From these starting points, I will be creating a collection of designs for interiors that will include a group of installation pieces comprising decorative lighting panels. The panels will be covered in digitally printed surface designs with an illustrative/conversational aesthetic contrasting their simplistic silhouettes, with laser-cut shapes through the panels that allow the lighting behind to shine through.

The project will be more innovative than trend-led, aiming at the high-end markets. The wall art and range of prints would be suitable for use in cutting-edge spaces such as hotels and nightclubs, or in smaller, exclusive business spaces such as a boutique or concept store.

I would like to work with a sophisticated group of colours, experimenting with metallics (with reference to Parisian architecture) and heavy use of black, white and greys, with emphasis on pencil drawings.

As you can see, Sophie has written her brief with an already established inspiration, based on her initial research in Paris and supported by researching artists and art movements relevant to the development of her imagery. She has also started to give her work a context and a product application by assessing the marketplace and designers producing similar work.

This collection of images from Sophie Bard shows a range of visual research and design ideas created and developed as she evolved her design collection. These photographs, linear sketches and detailed drawings all enabled her to explore various concepts, colour palettes and styles. Time taken to develop and synthesize design ideas is crucial in the crystallization of a design inspiration to be employed in the resolution of the brief.

DESIGN INSPIRATION

The first step towards answering a design brief begins with researching your design inspiration. With your design brief in mind, the search for design inspiration should include the exploration of a wide range of ideas and influences. Brainstorming and creating mind maps tend to be good ways of developing keywords and ideas and can also help you begin to group them. From this you may collect and research as broadly as possible themes and images that might connect and inspire your thinking.

Designers will often describe how they search for new ideas constantly when they are visiting new places – recording observations in sketches, photographs or notes. Architecture, travel or other cultural experiences provide visual imagery that might support this research. Other places that could provide visual inspiration for a particular brief may include collections or special exhibitions in museums, galleries or archives, vintage or craft fairs, or cultural festivals. It might also be useful to think more broadly about popular culture forms, such as film, advertising or music, that conjure a particular mood or vibe that fits the brief.

When beginning visual research you should record some of these ideas in a sketchbook – drawing, creating and/or photographing objects, shapes, textures and colours through which you can start to investigate your theme. Drawing with a variety of tools or media, or drawing directly onto a computer, or manipulating or collaging images and textures can help to develop these themes further.

When you have established the visual inspiration you will use in the resolution of your design brief, you may begin to bring this research together in a mood board, or by pinning the inspiration to a wall as a constant visual reminder of the brief to help keep you focused. Designers are often avid collectors of images, photographs, fabric, books and postcards and buttons, etc., and may keep them for years before finding the right time to use them as a significant inspiration for a design collection. The way in which you organize these images – the layout, colour combinations and linking images – can also help you make new connections and solutions.

Mary Crisp, a printed textile designer working in the automobile industry, describes her desi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Design in Context
• Chapter 2. Design Fundamentals
• Chapter 3. The Design Process
• Chapter 4. Manufacturing, Materials and Design Choices
• Chapter 5. Design in Practice
• Chapter 6. Becoming a Printed Textile Designer
• Glossary
• Further Reading
• Index
• Picture Credits
• Acknowledgement