To Peggy Noland, Keanan Duffty, and Harley Sears.

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 Special Thanks to:
My sister (Heidi Blackwood), My Father, Mother, Grandparents and Aunt,
The KCAI Grapic Design faculty, Peggy Noland, Keanan Duffty, Harley
Sears, Elisha Stetson, Rachel Rolon,

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ORIGINAL PROPOSAL QUESTION
How can I as a graphic designer make
an innovative contribution to fashion
design, pairing digital textile prints
with three-dimensional sculptural
elements of clothing design?
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MY OBJ ECTIVE S
My primary objective is to explore fashion through the eyes of a graphic designer.
I intend to use the knowledge that I have about graphic design, and use the digital
textile printing process to merge graphic design with fashion. I will be exploring what
I can contribute as a graphic designer to fashion design through graphic treatments
and pattern work. I will not only be expanding my own skill set and exploring a
new side of graphic design, but also using environmentally sensible and sustainable
decision-making to do so. It’s important to me to actually implement sustainable
practices into my work, rather than just simply talk or conceptualize about it. My
intention is to make an innovative contribution to textile design using my developed
skill set from the rich and complex education I have received so far. I am interested
in applying the strength of my graphic understanding to a three-dimensional, or even
sculptural application in fashion design.
MY M E S SAG E
My primary message is to clearly articulate the influence that graphic design can have
on fashion design, and the richness that it can produce. I intend to explore interplay
between two-dimensional surface prints and three-dimensional sculptural elements
in fashion, and discover how graphic design can bridge the gap between the two. I
hope to investigate what kinds of connections I can make between the prints and the
clothing design itself, and merging the 2D and 3D planes to create a meaningful and
intentional relationship of form-making. How does graphic design translate to a three-
dimensional form like the human body? What about the human body in motion?
 MY P R I MARY AU DI E NCE
My primary audience for this project is fashion designers, textile designers and
graphic designers. My secondary audience includes those who are fashionably
inclined and interested in clothing. I will be essentially making a line of menswear
clothing.
W H AT ’ S S O M E A N I N G F U L A B O U T C L O T H E S ?
What we wear each day is the external representation of ourselves; it’s how we present
ourselves to the outside world. Some of us chose to amplify that expression, and really
have fun with style and fashion, while others are content with something that just
allows them to feel comfortable. Whatever your tactic is for dressing yourself everyday,
there is no denying that fashion is like an art piece that we wear on our bodies, instead
of exhibiting on a canvas or presenting as a printed artifact. It is the one aspect of our
lives that we can’t help but be even the least bit expressive with. Each garment that
you chose to wear says something about yourself.
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C OM P ETITIVE LAN DSCAP E
There are many trailblazers in the use of print and pattern on clothing. Basso &
Brooke, for example, is a label that is largely revered for their pioneering use of the
digital print technique within the fashion industry.
Gerlan Jeans is another leading print-based fashion line. It is the brainchild
of Gerlan Marcel, who creates extremely playful, bold, and bright prints as the most
expressive and essential part of her clothing.
Manish Arora is perhaps the most extreme case of two-dimensional prints in
fashion. The Indian designer uses extremely dense pattern work to create spectacular
fashion designs that often imitate nature. His designs are really over the top and
difficult to digest. A complete sensory overload.
But for me, The most inspiring fashion print pioneer is the late Alexander
McQueen. His genius and talent was supernatural and dark. McQueen’s women’s
SS09 collection featured multi-coloured diamond facet prints which he applied to
leggings, dresses, and jackets. His lace and geometric print leggings are also incredibly
striking to me. His deep and twisted genius has had a profound effect on my work as a
graphic designer embarking on a love affair with digital textile printing.
In my exploration I am interested in
balancing functional and wearable
garments for men that are also highly
expressive. They will demonstrate an
ornamental form-making with a high
level of refinement, derived from my
visual communication training.
 I N S P I R AT I O N

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 Gareth Pugh - Layered Silk Trench Jacket

Alexander McQueen Women’s SS09

Asger Juel-Larsen

Alexander McQueen Men’s

Autumn/Winter 2011

Costume from a Brigand Sketch for the costume of Iskander

Léon Bakst — 1912 Léon Bakst — 1911
(from the ballet “Daphnis et Chloe”) (for the ballet: ‘’Le péri’’)

Léon Bakst was a Russian painter

and scene and costume designer Alexis Mabille SS 2011

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Songzio SS11

Jean Paul Gaultier

SS 2010/2011

Qasimi Homme
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Bernhard Willhelm

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 E X P E R I M E N T No. 1 — L E G G I N G S D E S I G N

My first research experiment, is more than just a prototype.

I have designed leggings and sent them to a digital textile
printer, Fabric On Demand. They will be sewn according
to the design that I have mocked up to the right, so I can
get my toe in the water of digital textile printing, and how
it functions in garment construction. This way, I will have
tried the process once and will understand the way it works,
and what limitations it has. Their purpose is to be worn
under jeans. It will be a quick and functional garment to
create for the cold winter months.

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 E X P E R I M E N T No. 2 — S E W I N G PAT T E R N

This is the men’s leggings KWIK SEW pattern that I

purchased at Hancock Fabrics in Overland Park, Kansas.
I used it to determine how my design will be printed, and
based on that, how it will be constructed into a garment.

It will be given to Peggy Noland, along with the 2 printed

yards of fabric that I just ordered from Fabric On Demand.
Then, they will be sewn into leggings.

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 I have decided now that whatever final artifact(s)
I create, will be menswear garments only.

Originally I was hoping to design for both men

and women, but it dawned on me that is not
a realistic undertaking for an undergraduate
Graphic Design student who has never had sketch for a woman’s coat
fashion design training of any kind.

final menswear sketch template

above: front and back sketch detail of

cowl neck long sleeve shirt

E X P E R I M E N T No. 3 — C R O Q U I S S K E T C H E S

In fashion, the term ‘croquis’ refers to a quick sketch of a

figure, typically 9 heads tall, which creates the elongated
proportions for fashion illustration, with a loose drawing
of the clothes that are being designed. I rendered the
figures in a much more realistic manner, disregarding the
‘9 heads’ rule that is typical of the elongated model forms
used in fashion sketching.

sketch template for men’s ‘jeggings’ 21

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 E X P E R I M E N T No. 3 — C R O Q U I S S K E T C H E S

above: front and back sketch detail of

cowl neck long sleeve shirt

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 E X P E R I M E N T No. 3 — C R O Q U I S S K E T C H E S

front and back views of

elongated shirt

on right: trousers

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 E X P E R I M E N T No. 3 — C R O Q U I S S K E T C H E S

front and back views of

elongated shirt

on right: trousers

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 Geometry Study #2
the penrose triangle

Geometry Study #1

Geometry Study #4

E X P E R I M E N T No. 3 — (S Y M M E T R I C A L ) G E O M E T R Y S T U D I E S

As a simple exercise in form making, I have created symmetrical geometry studies. The use
of symmetry in these abstract graphic forms is associated with the way that the human body is Geometry Study #3
built on a symmetrical structure, and therefore clothing is naturally partial to being created in
a symmetrical format.

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