THE IMPORTANCE OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION IN FASHION/CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN FASHION ILLUSTRATION - By Victor Mmendie
The idea of fashion is utterly
useless without a decorative interpretation and portrayal. Designs emanate from
creative minds but dies in thick gloom when a ray of reality does not shine
through its paths. My Mom (Colleen Iseyen) was an illustrator back in the days.
She dabbled more in "Fashion Flat Sketches" or "Technical
Drawings" which will be expatiated later in the article. She told me how
much importance was placed on illustrations back then and how sad it is to know
that it no longer count. FASHION ILLUSTRATION is highly important in FASHION
DESIGNING just as an architectural design is very important for a proper house
construction.
For every fashion, there must be a design and for every design, there
must be a distinctive illustration. Illustrations birth the design of the mind
on a permanent source for view. MARILYN VOS SAVANT is an American authoress who
is known for possessing the highest recorded IQ according to the Guinness Book
of Records. Concerning illustration, here is what MARILYN had to say, "Be
able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to
another person". MARILYN knew quite well the indispensability of
illustration and the power it exerts when put to use. For someone else to fully
perceive your concept, notion, idea and message, it is best you illustrate it
out by dint of a sketch-by-sketch analysis than have them worded. It shows
professionalism and a sense of beauty in it.
Illustrations are better accomplished through sketches, drawings,
sculptures, paintings or graffiti depending on the individual's concept which
he wants to be understood. Cloth making is etched on brainwork but easier with
a canvas of fashion illustrations. Fashion illustration is the communication of
fashion through drawings or sketches. There are zillions of Fashion ideas and
concepts that "cannot" be fully comprehended by words of mouth or
pictures; they are better illustrated. According to Wikipedia, "Fashion Illustration
has gone from being one of the sole means of fashion communication to having a
very minor role. The first photographic cover of Vogue was a watershed in the
history of fashion illustration and a watershed mark of its decline". Sad
to know that fashion illustration has lost its reins and importance. The
purpose of this article is to enumerate the importance of fashion illustration
in cloth making. Below are the significance of fashion illustration in cloth
making:
PROVIDING A CLIENT WITH A FORE-DESIGN LEST THE CLOTH IS MADE
A
fashion designer may not always have a fashion idea to introduce to a client.
Even a client can come up with a concept of fashion. One very appropriate thing
that fashion illustration helps to achieve is to aid the client to grasp the
fashion idea that he/she may have in mind. Through sketches, drawings or even
paintings, a client will see the fore of the about-to-be-made dress and even
suggest corrections.
HELPS TO MAKE THE WORK OF THE TAILOR EASIER
When a tailor is
shown the sketches of a particular design concept, it makes the work easier for
the tailor. In this way, technical drawings and flats are best suggested. At
the get-go of this article, I mentioned that my Mom was a Fashion Flat Illustrator
and delved into Technical Drawings back in the days. Technical Drawings or
Flats Sketches are detailed sketches or drawing of clothes alone without
fashion figures, templates or croquis. It focuses more on complex and detailed
areas of a design that you want a client or tailor to pay close attention to,
which would have been ignored if shown on a catalog, magazine, picture or
website. Fact on fact, Fashion illustration or Technical drawings helps the
tailor to produce a quality, professional and perfect apparel.
IT BRINGS ABOUT PROFESSIONALISM ON THE PART OF A FASHION
DESIGNER/TAILOR
When a style of work is professional, it shows that it possesses
a standard or quality that makes it distinct. It also recognizes the designer
as proficient, amateur and great at what he/she does. When your clients see
sketches and illustrations of pre-dresses or pre-designs, it enables them to
place more value, respect and reliance on you and your craft. They will not
grieve against high fees or extra-charges on the clothes because they know how
much work was put into it from start to finish. Clients will even refer other
clients to you because they believe so much in your dexterity.
IT HELPS YOU PUT TOGETHER A PROPER FASHION COLLECTION
It is
mandatory that every fashion designer create a collection every year; either a
capsule collection or otherwise. When a designer is proficient at creating
fashion illustrations, it makes it easier for him/her to create significant
designs without depending on magazines, catalogues, fashion blogs, and
Instagram accounts of other fashion designers to create a collection. There’s
absolutely nothing wrong in getting inspirations from the above mentioned
sources. However, a fashion designer should be able to create well thought-out and
distinct designs accompanied with the ingredients supplied by other
fashion-oriented sources. Fashion illustrations will help you to organize the
designs in your head as raw as they are to create a collection that will make a
positive sale impact in the fashion market.
IT IS A CRITERION FOR FASHION DESIGNERS WHO WILL LOVE TO FURTHER OR
DO A PROFESSIONAL COURSE ABROAD
Because of how important FASHION
ILLUSTRATION is in the Fashion World and the necessity placed on it in the
Fashion Designing Industry, a lot of Fashion Schools abroad hold “FASHION
ILLUSTRATION” as a strong criterion lest you are admitted into their academy or
allowed to do a professional course. They believe that every designer should
have attained the knowledge of Fashion Illustration during their early stage of
learning how to create apparels. A Fashion Designer without “CORE KNOWLEDGE” of FASHION ILLUSTRATION
can limit his/her possibilities to break into the international market filled
with professionalism and originality. It can also make it difficult for a
designer to partake of international runway shows, exhibitions and other
marketable events because such events requires that an interested designer
presents such things as Fashion Illustrations of the collection, a portfolio, a
look-book, previous runway shows etc.
Having considered 5 yet powerful
points that shows why FASHION ILLUSTRATION is important in the field of FASHION;
let us now consider some career opportunities in FASHION ILLUSTRATION:
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN
FASHION ILLUSTRATION
A lot times, some designers view
FASHION ILLUSTRATION as an area of FASHION that is somewhat unimportant and
needless to their FASHION CAREER. Others feel there’s no point learning it
because it is not a money-making venture. However, below are some career
opportunities in FASHION ILLUSTRATION; tested and acknowledged.
WORK FOR A DESIGNER WHO HAS GREAT IDEAS BUT
HAS TROUBLES TRANSFERRING THEM TO PAPER
A fashion illustrator can earn a
lot of money just from drawing out designs on paper that a designer is unable
to interpret. Sometimes, it might also be that a designer has the knowledge of
Fashion Illustration but needs an urgent or long-term helping hand to create
bespoke collections or satisfy a client in need of a custom-made outfit.
TEACHING OTHERS TO DRAW IS A THRIVING
CAREER CHOICE
There’s nothing that pays the bills more than when you
impart, add value and inculcate into a person especially when such a person is
so much in need of it. A Fashion illustrator can earn a good living just by
teaching, organizing fashion illustration classes, training students in a
fashion school etc.
BE
OPEN TO OTHER ILLUSTRATING JOBS THAT ARE NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO FASHION
When a
person possesses drawing skills, it opens doors to other opportunities that call
for such skill even when it is not closely related to fashion. For instance,
children books especially depend on illustrators to capture the stories and
bring it to life; which may also include characters that must wear clothes.
Also, a fashion illustrator can be called to create lifestyle illustrations for
blogs, websites, magazine or even billboard adverts. Such contracts can
generate a lot of money.
CREATE
FASHION ILLUSTRATIONS AND SELL THEM
There are a lot of fashion designers
that are in need of distinct fashion illustrations to purchase in order to
please their clients better. This can be a great opportunity for a fashion
illustrator to get paid for such services an also benefit from referrals.
CREATE FASHION ILLUSTRATION TEXTBOOKS FOR
SALE
When there’s vital and valuable information of a particular knowledge
penned in a book (both hard copy and electronic copy), it becomes a great need
to purchase. A fashion illustrator can also make a lot of money by selling textbooks
and eBooks about fashion illustration; something that is rarely done.
The above opportunities are just
some out of the many benefits that comes from being a FASHION ILLUSTRATOR.
There also many other opportunities that are yet to be explored. However, one
thing is a major take-home fact, “A FASHION DESIGNER IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT
THE KNOWLEDGE OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION”. I exhort every fashion designer sans
the knowledge of FASHION ILLUSTRATION to endeavor to learn it as soon as
possible as it will create a lasting impact as well as create more and more
opportunities to explore.
0 Comments