Man, I love de cake!!

Sketching the outlines (without going over the edges!)

My design process in 3 steps

Gone are the days of me using paper,  pens, pencils and inks to sketch out designs. Like most other aspects of my designer work, computers have taken over. Not that I dislike using traditional methods, but I was never the best at drawing or drafting.

These days I use several different pieces of software to get my finished artwork online. But even with the ease and efficiency of these, a pen and paper is where I start - rough sketching quickly helps get the ideas in focus and then I can finesse and finalise them at later stages thus:

Sketch, 3d Render, Final Garment

After some rough sketching is down on paper, a more refined sketch is produced with a touch of colour using Adobe Illustrator and a scan of the sketch.
Then on to a 3d render. I use a few different programs for this - Marvelous Designer is a 2D to 3D render program that converts 2 dimensional pattern pieces into a 3 dimensional simulated item of clothing. From here, it is taken into Daz3D, a rendering and animation program to add light, texture and scenery to create a more realistic version of the sketch, and as it is 3 dimensional, it can be viewed from various angles too, as in the real world:

Marvellous Designer - 2D to 3D modelling.

Daz3D avatar posed and ready for textures to be added and scene to be completed. I usually add a few different views from different angles so all details can be seen!

Complete render with textures hair and make-up, accessories and scenery! Sometimes post work is carried out in Adobe Photoshop, depending on the finished look I want to create.

This method of work brings ideas to life and is more cost effective and efficient than creating a real world garment that may not work. Variations can be tried out - colours/fabrics/styles - at the click of a button, and though it still can take a lot of hours to create this photorealistic finished look, it is a darned sight quicker than pattern cutting, sewing and fitting it in real time!

Next time I will show you how I go about transferring these ideas to life size patterns. In the meantime, check out my website at www.afeditions.co.uk and don't forget to contact me if you need more information, would like bespoke clothing making or you need some freelance work in Daz3D  animation or Marvellous Designer

Bye for now!