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The Art Department Dilemma
By admins | July 24, 2009
Art Departments often play a crucial role in apparel companies, or do they? Anyone who works for a large fashion company will likely tell you that their Art Department is indispensable. At its most basic, the Art Department is full of talented graphic designers. At its most complex its full graphic designers, textile designers, CAD artists, colorists, retouchers, web designers, and more. For companies heavy on artwork, like an Urban brand, children’s licensed character apparel, or a graphic tee line to name a few, the Art Department will take center stage. However, for many companies where graphics, prints, and patterns are not a major design element it seems Art Departments have become disposable.
Unfortunately, during this current recession many of these talented professionals are feeling the pinch. While Art Departments are being downsized dramatically graphic design freelancers are growing by multitudes. An Art Department can handle things like: labeling, packaging design, catalog layouts, advertising, hardware development, and, of course, the main responsibility designing original art work such as prints patterns and graphics. The dilemma happens when a company’s tight budget combined with lagging sales requires positions to be cut. In today’s market, many fashion designers are not only computer savvy, but also proficient in graphic development and are able to CAD their own designs. This makes the Art Department seen as replaceable. A competent fashion designer can take over artwork development if need be and other art related projects can be farmed out to graphic freelancers as needed.
Today, even in a major apparel company, it is just as likely to find one graphic designer supporting an entire division as it is to find a full-scale Art Department driving business. So what do you think? Form the perspective of company owner, graphic designer, of fashion designer. What’s your opinion on the state of Art Departments?
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Topics: cad design, graphics, jobs | 6 Comments » 
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July 25th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I’m not in the business, so I’m not qualified to judge, but it’s a sad state for those in the art department. And probably a good lesson for those designers-in-training to keep their education well-diversified.
July 25th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I don’t know if the art department is where they should be downsizing, they seem very integral in most apparel companies. But I can’t imagine any other department that could be downsized either. Ug, I hate the economy.
July 26th, 2009 at 10:08 am
First, companies should be looking at their sales dept to cutback. I know a lot of owners and business look to sales to bring in the money and new accounts but really in the garment center so many of our salespeople are failed designers and flaky divas who spend half the day selling and the other half online shopping or planning Europe “research trips”. They are out the door at 5pm while the tech, production, art and design dept are slaving away until 10pm!
Second, I think art dept have gotten too big. We just don’t need so many people for one function. Also many assistant and associate level fashion designers who graduated in the last five years know how to do their own artwork anyway. If i am watching my budget and can only hire one person, I would hire the fashion designer who can techpack and do graphics rather than a graphic designer who can only provide artwork!
July 27th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Although we are seeing an uptick in companies outsourcing their CAD work and design to Creativo, it just goes along with the ebs and flows of business as usual. Even big box retailers that have many on staff designers may have to outsource from time to time if their designers can’t either handle the work load or can’t design for a specific style.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:55 am
after the last 2 magic shows and the wares ive seen looks like cutting the art departments was a bad thing. lol,
October 12th, 2009 at 6:56 am
Fantastic work!
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