Welcome to our crash course in fashion flats! Come and take a deep-dive into the world of fashion with flat sketches, also known as tech sketches, line drawings and design development sketches (DDS). You'll be an expert by the time you're done reading this!
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It All Started in The Caves
Since the dawn of man, humans have sought out ways of communicating, sharing ideas, practices, customs and beliefs. The scribes, painters and stone cutters of ancient Egypt (3200 BC—30 BC) were among the first 'commercial' artists, working as paid or conscripted artisans for the Egyptian nation-state.
With the development of the modern fashion industry in the 19th century, designers started using technical sketches to communicate their design ideas so teams could work on them.
What's a Flat Sketch?
A flat sketch is a two-dimensional technical drawing which illustrates a garment with basic solid lines. It's like a 'blueprint' of your fashion design —much like an architect's blueprint for a house before they can begin to construct it.
The word 'flat' refers to the way that they are drawn: imagine the garment is lying flat on a table so that you are viewing all the details from either the front or the back.
Aside from front/back views, some brands will include drawings of details or the side views to show how panels travel around the body or how sections of the garment should be constructed.
Why Flat Sketches are Important
As an essential part of the garment specification sheet or tech pack, they give your pattern-maker and your manufacturer's sewing teams all the information they need about the technical components of a piece. How else will they understand your vision
Difference Between Flats and Illustrations
A fashion illustration captures the mood, proportion and color of your design, it's more of an interpretation of your idea. Whereas the technical sketch helps translate the garment into something 'universal' which a whole team of people can understand and work on.
A fashion illustration is transformed into a technical sketch to create a 'blueprint' for the pattern and construction of the garment.
Fashion Drawings Sketches
Creating Fashion Flats: The Essentials
1) Include multiple views of your garment
Sometimes just front/ back views are not enough for a factory to understand your design requirements. Ideally, you should include side views, inside and other details to show how the garment should be constructed.
2) Be as Detailed as Possible
Develop templates that are detailed so you can use them later in other tech packs. Remember that with Techpacker you can save design details inside cards to be used again as needed.
3) Keep it Simple
Add details as explained above but don't overcomplicate things either. Avoid shading and use plain black and white sketches to clearly represent your design.
Read more about how to ace your flat sketches every time!
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Tech Developments to The Rescue!
Tech flats used to be hand-drawn using rulers and black felt tip pens and indicated the scaling of the original design sample measurements.
Today, most brands use Computer Aided Design (CAD) technologies that enable virtual true to life prototypes, instead of real samples. However, CAD technology isn't cheap and has a steep learning curve. Which is why most designers prefer Adobe Illustrator to create their flats.
The Technical Designer
There's actually someone who only specialises in technical flat drawings. In fact, their role should be to link the Design and Production teams. They are essentially the engineers of fashion.
Funnily though, no two Technical Design jobs are ever the same. To learn more about all the things tech designers can do check out this article. The learning opportunities in this field are endless!
Watch ▶︎
Here's a video from this insightful post by the University of Arts, London that we highly recommend for you to get on the right track doing flats!
Interesting Resources
→ Free fashion flats in Adobe Illustrator format and tips on how to create flats
Designer Nexus (You need to sign up for free first!)
→ Check out this designer who looked into creating a Web-based Design Support System for Fashion Technical Sketches. Her idea was to enable users to design realistic garments in the form of technical sketches over the internet.
What's next?
Once you have your flat sketches ready, it's time to add them to your tech packs and send over to your manufacturers so they can get started to turn your idea into a product.
In 3 simple steps, Techpacker allows you to add all your flat sketches as cards, make comments and send PDF-ready tech packs to your manufacturers in the blink of an eye!
Related post-
Are you interested in fashion design? Do you want to learn how to create amazing dress designing sketches? If so, you’re in the right place.
Developing the Right Skills for Fashion Design
One of the most important skills to develop for this is the ability to sketch well. In addition to fashion design classes, you will also need to master the art of sketching.
A popular method used for dress sketching today is grid suits. This allows you to add a professional structure to any type of fashion sketch you create. The grid suit is essentially a grid placed on your fashion figure that lets you outline the dimensions of the body you want to draw your garment on.
Skills to Acquire
While creating a fashion design portfolio will be the end goal for anyone who is interested in this industry, the first step is to learn the basics. Some of the things you need that you need to learn, and master are listed here.
- Sketching poses and the garment. Take some time to learn how garments and poses interact with one another when creating a fashion illustration.
- Sketching the poses and creating a grid suit. Learn how to sketch your fashion figure and then apply the grid suit (mentioned before to showcase the form of the figure.
- Using the grid suit to sketch garments. Learn how to draw your designs/garments on the figure.
- Finalizing your sketch. The last step is to finalize your sketch and render it using lighting.
Getting Started with Your Fashion Sketching Efforts
Before diving in and thinking you can instantly become the next “big thing” in the world of fashion design, you will have to create your own, personal fashion design toolkit. Keep in mind, the ideas here are generic, but you can customize options based on your personal needs and preferences.
Believe it or not, if you don’t have the right tools, then you will never create a perfect sketch. Learn about the must-have elements for succeeding at your fashion design classes and creating your fashion design portfolio here.
The Sketchbook
The sketchbook you choose will significantly impact the dress designing sketches you are able to create. There are some sketchbooks that have been custom-made specifically for fashion designers. These types of sketchbooks have convenient features, such as paper panels with figure templates included for kids, women’s and men’s designs.
You may even find some sketchbooks that include specialized tape measurers and other accessories to make the entire sketching process easier and more successful.
Drawing Pencils
If you love fashion and sketching, you probably already have a huge collection of drawing pencils. However, you may also buy new ones every chance you get. Various pencils have different purposes. Some of the must-haves for your fashion design collection include 4B, 2B, HB and H pencils. These are ideal for creating basic outlines. You will find there are a number of brands that offer quality drawing pencils, and in some cases, you may have to use a bit of trail and error to find the ones that best suit your needs.
Erasers and Pencil Sharpeners
More essential tools for creating dress designing sketches is erasers and pencil sharpeners. It is crucial you are able to create fine lines when drawing dresses and other fashions. As a result, you have to keep your pencil as sharp as possible. You also need quality erasers. You don’t want any lead marks left behind. This can ruin the entire look of the fashion sketch you create.
Fine Black Pens
While most of your initial sketching will be done with the pencils mentioned above, you will also need some fine black pens on hand at all times. These are the ideal took for adding details and fine-tuning your sketches. Be sure to find a high-quality pen that won’t smudge or fade.
Watercolor Set
Once you have created your sketch, you’ll need to add color to your designs. A quality way to do this is with a watercolor set. There are many sets that are designed to travel easily, too. Since you aren’t going to be coloring in large areas with your watercolors, you can opt for tubs.
After you have sketched with your pencils, you can apply your watercolors to the designs you have created. To get the paint from your pan, all you have to do is use one of your brushes to choose a color. Then put the chosen color on your palette and mix it with the colors necessary to get what you want. Always make sure to wash your brushes well before you choose another color. After all, your pan may become contaminated with other colors if you aren’t careful.
Markers
Purchasing fashion design markers is a must. These are designed to combine well with other types of media you use, such as ink pens, graphite and pencils. Try to find options that offer both fine and broad tip ends. This allows you to have exactly what you need, without having to carry around too many markers.
The Process of Drawing Fashion Sketches
In the world of fashion, there are new designs presented as a simple, yet elegant hand-drawn sketch prior to ever being cut or sewn into life.
The first step is to draw the croquis. This is the actual figure, or model, that is the base of the sketch. The point isn’t to draw figure with the most realistic features, but to create an essential “canvas” for you to add your dresses or fashions to. You can also add color and various details, such as buttons, seams and ruffles to help really bring your fashion ideas to life.
Once you have gathered your supplies (which are highlighted above), it will be time to determine the pose for your croquis. The croquis is actually the model for your design. The goal here is to draw it in the post that will help to show off your designs best.
You have the option to draw the model bending, sitting, walking or in any other type of position. When you are a beginner, you may want to with a common pose, which will be the runway sketch that shows your model striding or standing on the typical runway. This is the easiest one to draw and it will allow you to illustrate your designs, so they can be fully seen.
- The goal is to illustrate your designs in a manner that helps them to appear professional, as well as appealing. This means you need to model them on your croquis in a way that they are well-drawn and properly proportioned.
- There are some fashion designers who have practiced drawing on hundreds of different croquis until they have perfected their ability to sketch a wide array of poses.
Optional Methods to Create Your Croquis
Because the croquis is the foundation or base of your design, having various ways to create it can be beneficial. While being able to draw your own croquis is nice, and it allows you to get the precise proportions that you really want, it may not always be a feasible option. Also, you may not want to spend the time doing this. The good news is, there are a few shortcuts that you can take.
- You can create a croquis by tracing a model’s outline from an ad or some other picture. All you will need is tracing paper to put over the model that you like and then create a light outline.
- Print a croquis from an online source. When you do this, you will discover they are available in a wide array of sizes and shapes. For example, you can find croquis options ready to download in the shapes of a busty woman, large man, petite woman, child, baby and more.
Using the shortcuts mentioned here will help you save time if you are in a hurry to get your design created, or if you just don’t want to waste time drawing your own croquis.
What to Remember When Creating Fashion Sketches
When you are creating your fashion sketches, you need to remember that everyone – even the greatest fashion designers in the world – had to start somewhere. The more you practice and perfect your skills, the better you will become. Don’t try to “rush” it. It may take you thousands of hours to reach your goals.
The good news is, there are courses and tips out there to help you along the way. The use of a class or course can be invaluable if there is a certain skill you want to get better at. Be sure to find out more about this if you are ready to increase your ability and take your fashion designs to the next level.
Being a fashion designer isn’t easy, but it is a career that will allow you to be creative and show off your creativity by clothing the world. Using the information here, and finding tutorials that help you along the way can be the perfect way to become the amazing fashion designer you have always dreamed of being.
Make Fashion Design Sketches Online
Dress Sketches For Fashion Designing
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