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Working with sketchbooks Sketchbooks are an essential resource for a fashion designer or a design student. They offer fashion designers the opportunity to record and organize their personal thoughts, motivations and ambitions over a period of time. At their best, sketchbooks should provide an unselfconscious record of a designer’s evolving vision and confirm their approach towards a defined outcome or project. In this way, they enable a designer to undertake design research, critical enquiry and investigation so that ideas are explored and tested through a variety of sketches, notes and additional entries. Fashion sketchbooks that have been tightly edited are generally less effective in communicating an idea and lack the freshness and vigour that a sketchbook should offer. At its most fundamental level a sketchbook should present an appropriate selection of sketches. These might include visual analysis of silhouettes, cut, shape, proportion and detailing. Fashion designers sometimes maintain sketchbooks in conjunction with notebooks, visual diaries, template books and technical files. This approach can work for some designers who prefer to separate collections of fabric swatches and magazine tearsheets or who like to work outside a sketchbook on loose sheets of paper.
DEVELOPING A SKETCHBOOK
WORKING DRAWINGS
Most fashion students will be introduced to sketchbooks as a means of demonstrating their ability to follow the critical path from an initial idea through to design concept. A sketchbook should include working drawings, fabric swatches, observational drawings and photographs of studio practice as it develops. Sketchbooks are usually assessed by tutors or professors as evidence of work in progress and are usually reintroduced for new projects. A sketchbook should offer real insight into the intentions and motivations of a designer as well as their fluency of thought.
Working drawings are an important aspect of developing a collection. These drawings are more practical than illustrations or aesthetic drawings and are motivated by the need to problemsolve a garment design or a detail. Working over a previous design to change a collar or pocket is quite usual and reflects a process of refinement through critically analysing previous designs. Working drawing can be a useful lead into producing a draft line-up of a collection. Fabric swatches can be attached and should always be considered as part of a working drawing.
Sketchbooks can be used for undertaking primary research: smaller sketchbooks are highly portable and can be used on the go. This makes them ideal for taking to exhibitions and galleries or as part of a visit to the stores to collect and record market research. Larger sketchbooks can offer a designer the opportunity to ‘loosen up’ by working to a larger format and scale. This can enable experimentation with a variety of colour media as well as encouraging a designer to develop and refine their drawing skills. In the context of fashion design there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to developing a sketchbook. An effective sketchbook is highly personal and diverse. As well as its value in recording and planning a collection, a sketchbook also offers the opportunity for personal reflection, which remains relevant over time and can provide a designer with a personal archive resource.
01 SKETCHBOOK Fashion students are encouraged to maintain and update sketchbooks as part of their collection development. Documenting and recording the progress and development of a collection can assist with personal planning and reflection. Credit: Kate Wallis
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Job: 03051 Title: Fashion DEsign-The Complete Guide (AVA) Page:152
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