Loading ...
« Eco Fashion Events | Home | Midwest Shopping In Our Neighborhood »
Fashion Illustration, We Dare You!
By admins | March 20, 2009
Kablis via flickr
One of the most common misconceptions about working in the fashion industry is, we just sit around with pencils and paper and sketch all day. While it is true that for designers sketching is part of the job, but more often than not it is done by computer and not by hand. These days most apparel company professionals, from accounting to design, spend their days hunched over a computer. Even technical designers and pattern-makers spend more time than ever before at a keyboard and God knows that salespeople cannot be separated from their crackberries. Fashion schools teach not one, but several CAD courses covering many programs because in order to be competitive in the market today you must be computer savvy. The use of programs like Adobe Illustrator and WebPDM have increased the efficiency and quantity of work a designer can churn out (sad but true many companies view design as something to “churn out” instead of create). In fact it is possible to have an entire career today in design without ever having to hand-draw. Recently we spoke with one industry recruiter who told us, “Even companies that still use hand illustrations will not consider new candidates that are not CAD proficient.”
Now maybe we’re having a bit of techie overload or maybe it’s nostalgia but we’re currently obsessed with hand done illustrations. Perhaps it’s a reaction to all the texting, facebooking, twittering, and blogging, but we miss putting pen to paper. There is something cathartic and inspiring about hand sketching in whatever medium you choose. So we would like to encourage all you fashionistas out there, if you haven’t done it in a while now’s the time to break out the gouache and pencils and give it a shot. If you need some inspiration how about a sketch of what you’re wearing right now? As a matter of fact we’d love to see what our readers are up to. So send us a sketch and we may feature it in the coming weeks. Come on, you know you want to, put that techpack aside for a minute, let go of the measuring tape, and for God’s sake step away from the computer and just draw. Take a few minutes today to remind yourself why you went into fashion in the first place!
For those of you fabulous professional illustrators who wouldn’t dream of using a computer, maybe the picture below will tempt you to step out of your comfort zone too (okay maybe not). But that stunning beauty is a “Golden Age” Macbook Air. How could anyone resist the luxury of a Macbook incased in 24K Gold and covered with 12,000 Swarovski crystals? For only $39,750 it’s all yours, hey what recession?
Here is more related scoop;
Topics: Opinion, adobe, cad design, fashion industry | 9 Comments » 
Email This Post
March 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Lovely post, sometimes we all get too wrapped up in the mundane duties of daily life and forget to indulge in what we love. Bravo ladies.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Natanya: Thank you so much for nominating me for IFB’s blogger spotlight, I really really appreciate it! Anyways, that Macbook is insane, if I owned that I would never be offline! And I love the idea of posting sketches on your site, I’m really excited to see the submissions!
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I hate too admit when the last time I sketched by hand was. But you’re right, we should all step away from the computer now and then. I’m a little hesitant and defintely will not be submitting what is sure to be my childlike sketching, but thanks for the inspiration.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Actually, I’m not fond of drawing at all and it defenitely isn’t the reason why I went into fashion in the first place. I often get frustrated with my own inability to put down my design ideas on paper the way I actually envision them. But even though I hate drawing sometimes, I do think it is of the upmost important to designers because it allows us to make more mistakes. Some of the best design ideas have sprung from mistakes. Though I don’t work much with computer programs, I can imagine they don’t leave much room for these kind of happy accidents. Ironically, for the fashion world to keep moving forward I think it’s probably best if designers stick to their good old pencils and paper in the early more creative stages of the design process. Of course, for finishing and editing designs the speed and accuracy of computers can only come in handy.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
TB- So very true!
Ashley- You’re so welcome, you totally deserved it.
FG-Give it a try and don’t be afraid to share, we won’t judge!
Else-Well, whatever it is you love to do, we want everybody to take some time to enjoy it, since we often get wrapped up in the grind of daily work life and deadlines.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:31 am
[...] it to use before somebody just chucks it all. The other week we challenged you to embrace fashion hand illustration once again, this week how about digging out that sewing machine you haven’t used since [...]
March 6th, 2010 at 2:57 am
I would never dare part with my pencil and sketch pad. Check out my work!
http://www.ustrendy.com/the-artist-of-fashion
June 29th, 2010 at 9:22 am
Great article!! I could never replace hand drawing with the computer!!
Are there any young beginner fashion illustrators like me?
June 29th, 2010 at 9:24 am
If you like here are my recent works :)
http://www.behance.net/oscarillustration