Textile Design - Overview

Overview

Textile designing is a creative field that bridges fashion design, carpet manufacturing and any other cloth-related field. Textile design fulfills so many purposes in our lives. For example:

• People climb out from under sheets and blankets and step into slippers and a robe.
• People wash their faces with washcloths, dry them with towels, and put on clothing for the day.
• People sit on upholstered seats; the vehicle moves on tires reinforces with strong textile cord.

The above examples illustrate the importance of textile in our daily lives. Also, these examples give the idea to the textile designer to consider the contribution of the performance to the finished fabric, because the design from the designer gives a direct influence on the performance, durability and attractiveness of a final product. It embodies not only drawing skill but also business savvy of the global textile industry and consumer relations as well.

Textile designers marry a creative vision of what a finished textile will look like with a deep understanding of the technical aspects of production and the properties of fiber, yarn, and dyes.

Designs for both woven and printed textiles often begin with a drawing or watercolor sketch of the finished design. Traditionally, drawings of woven textile patterns were translated onto special forms of graph paper called point papers which were used by the weavers in setting up their looms.

In nowadays, designers might use software, hand paint, or grab a pencil and paper to record their design. Once a pattern is agreed upon, the design process shifts to choosing the proper fabrics and then to getting the design printed on or woven into the fabric. Designer might want to use the method of dyeing or printing to create their design. There are many printing method. For instance,

• Direct (Blotch) Printing
• Overprinting
• Discharge Printing
• Resist Printing
• Block Printing
• Roller Printing
• Screen Printing

Today, most professional textile designers use some form of computer-aided design software created expressly for this purpose.

Some of the latest advances in textile printing have been in the area of digital printing. The process is similar to the computer controlled paper printers used for office applications. In addition, heat-transfer printing is another popular printing method to be used in the textile design.