Words by Erin, Digital Design Media Manager
Textile designers LURRVE to design placements for clients.
Without too many technical protocols to weigh one down (aka. putting a design into a repeat), there’s extra room for creativity.
And they’re versatile. The stand alone statement pieces you create for yourself can double as wall art, a logo design, a sticker or even a tattoo!
Sara, head of design and strategy shares her best tips and tricks for working with placements.
1. GO OFF CENTRE
“An off centre placement can work well in T-shirt shapes while more centralised layouts work well for dresses. If you’re working with graphic style placements try and stick to simple base colours like white, black or navy so that your motifs shine.”
2. TRY A LOGO
Create your own company logo to fit in with the vintage branded sweatshirt trend. If the design is decorative, keep the fonts simple to avoid clutter. To see how placement prints are done commercially, check out Zara. The fast-fashion giant turns out placement t-shirts every single season.
3. DO IT BY HAND FIRST
Cut and paste techniques are a key trend right now and we find it looks more authentic when scissors and paper are used first. “I like to start by collaging the old school way, then scan the arrangement and finesse it in Photoshop, adding more layers on the computer to give it a final touch,” Sara says.
and above all else…
play around.
“We constantly experiment with engineering our prints to suit different garment shapes,” she says. Thinking about how the customer will wear the design can be one of the most enjoyable parts of the process.
Want to know more about designing for customers and clients?
Start with our blogs: 5 Quick Tips for Commercial Textiles and 5 Design Flubs to Avoid.
Then, if you think, ‘Woah, there’s more to textile design than I thought,’ donut worry (mmm.. donut), we got your back.
We have a whole school dedicated to you (yep, The Print School), with courses, tutorials and VIP access to us (ie. additional support and advice). Get involved and get up to speed on the real-world application of textile design.
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