Chapter 8: Design For Fabric And Apparel
The Teacher Who Stopped Trusting Colour Names Albert Henry Munsell (1858–1918) taught art in Boston, and one difficulty followed him through every class. When he asked a student for rose, or peacock, or ash, each student mixed something different. Colour names came from flowers, birds, stones and food, and they travelled badly. A name that was exact in one workshop meant nothing in the next town.
Munsell decided the fault lay in the names, not in the students. Colour, he argued, is not one quality but three at once. A colour has a family — its hue. It has a lightness or darkness — its value. And it has a strength, from muddy to vivid — what he called chroma. Fix those three and you have fixed the colour; leave any one loose and you have only a word.
He built this into an ordered arrangement in which every colour has a place and a notation. He published A Color Notation in 1905, and an atlas of the system in 1915.
His three questions — which hue, how light, how strong — are still the questions a designer asks of a fabric before ordering a single metre of it. What began as a teacher’s irritation with vague words became the working grammar of colour in the textile trade.
Fig. 8.0 – The three aspects of a colour.
8.1 The Meaning Of Design
The word design is used loosely in everyday talk. A shopkeeper uses it for the print on a bedsheet, a magazine uses it for the cut of an expensive dress, and an advertisement uses it for anything that looks new.
Each of these uses catches a part of the idea and misses the rest. Before you can work with design, you need to know what the word covers in an applied subject like this one.
8.1.1 Design Is Not Mere Decoration
Think of a cotton apron sold for use in a kitchen. It may be printed with a handsome border, but if the strings snap at the first tug and the cloth soaks up oil, no one would call it well designed.
The lesson holds generally. An article that pleases the eye but fails in use has not been designed well, however carefully its surface has been treated. Design is the planning and making of an article for a purpose, so that it works and gives pleasure at the same time.
In its broadest sense, design can be described as harmony in form — every part suiting every other part and suiting the whole. The designer’s own imagination matters greatly, but that imagination reaches its best result only when beauty and usefulness are joined in the same object.
A good design, then, is judged on more than appearance. It is the right use of materials to give people what they expect in price, in colour and in the service the article will render.
8.1.2 Structural Design And Applied Design
Every article you look at carries two layers of design at once, and it helps to separate them. One layer is the article’s own shape and make-up; the other is what has been put on top of that shape.
Structural design is the design that comes from the form of the article itself, with no ornament added. In fabric production it is decided by the processing of the fibre, the type of fibre and yarn chosen, the way the fabric is woven or knitted, and the stage at which colour is put in. In a garment it is the basic cut, or silhouette — the outline the garment makes when you see it against the light.
Applied design is the design placed on top of that basic structure. On fabric it comes from finishes, from dyeing and printing, and from embroidery and other decorative needlework. On a garment it includes trims and notions — the fasteners such as buttons, hooks and zips — which add to the value of the finished product.
Both layers are visible in a single garment, as Fig. 8.1 shows.
Fig. 8.1 – Structural and applied design in a garment.
The distinction is worth holding on to, because the two layers behave differently. Structural design is settled early and cannot be changed later; applied design can often be added, altered or removed. Table 8.1 sets the two side by side.
Fabric design and dress design are arts in the same sense as architecture, painting and sculpture. The same grammar of art applies to all of them, which is why the terms you meet in this chapter will sound familiar from your art classes.
8.1.3 Elements And Principles: The Two Factors Of Design
Design is made up of two factors, and the whole of this chapter is built on them.
The elements of design are the tools of the art — the raw materials a designer actually handles. They are colour, texture, and line, shape or form.
The principles of design are the rules by which those tools are combined. They are proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm and harmony. A designer does not choose between elements and principles; the elements are arranged, and the principles decide whether the arrangement succeeds.
Put simply, the elements are what you use and the principles are how you use them. Fig. 8.2 sets out the relation.
Fig. 8.2 – The two factors of design.
The rest of this chapter takes the elements one at a time and then the principles one at a time. Keep the order in mind: you cannot judge a proportion until you can see a line, and you cannot judge harmony until you can read a texture.
8.2 Colour
Of all the elements of design, colour is the one a customer notices first and remembers longest. It is also the one most often chosen without any reasoning at all.
This section gives you the reasoning: what colour is, how it is described exactly, when it enters a fabric, and how two or more colours may be put together.
8.2.1 Why Colour Matters In Textiles
Colour is present in every kind of textile material — clothing, household furnishings, and fabrics made for commercial and institutional use. Very often the identity of a product rests on its colour, and a buyer will describe the article by its colour before mentioning anything else.
Everyone responds to colour and everyone has definite preferences. Colour reflects the season, the occasion and the mood of a group of people, which is why the shades on sale in a market change through the year.
A person’s choice is shaped by several things at once:
- culture and tradition;
- climate and season;
- the occasion the article is meant for;
- purely personal liking.
Because colour carries so much of this weight, it is a major part of fashion. Designers choose fabric colours deliberately, to make a definite statement about what the garment is for and whom it is meant to suit.
8.2.2 Colour Theory: How We See Colour
Colour is not a substance sitting on the surface of a cloth. It is what happens when light strikes that surface and is thrown back to the eye.
Light reflected from the object falls on the retina and stimulates cells in the nerves of the eye. Those nerves send a message to the brain, and the brain produces the sensation you call colour.
Which colour is sensed depends on the wavelength, or the combination of wavelengths, present in the light that reaches the eye. This is why light is a condition for colour: in a completely dark room, a red sari and a green one look equally black.
Two limiting cases are worth remembering. When a surface reflects all the light rays that fall on it, it appears white; when it reflects none of them, it appears black.
Where The Colours Of Light Come From
Light is a form of radiant energy and forms part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Sunlight is the radiant energy that reaches the Earth from the Sun as light waves.
When sunlight passes through raindrops, it is bent and split into its separate wavelengths. This produces the spectrum of seven colours, remembered as VIBGYOR — violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.
Sunlight is therefore a mixture. Along with these seven visible colours it carries ultra-violet and infra-red rays, which the eye cannot see.
Advancing And Receding Colours
The wavelength of a colour also affects how it behaves in a design. The shorter wavelengths — green, blue green, blue and purple — are grouped as receding or restful colours, and they seem to move away from the viewer.
The longer wavelengths — red, orange and yellow — are the advancing or stimulating colours, and they seem to come forward. A small area of orange in a design will therefore pull the eye more strongly than a much larger area of blue green.
Because light is made up of different wavelengths, colour is seen not only in different families but also in different lightnesses and different strengths. Those differences are what the next subsection names.
8.2.3 The Three Aspects Of Colour
Naming a colour is not enough for anyone who has to order it, match it or reproduce it. A colour is specified in three aspects — hue, value, and intensity or chroma.
8.2.3.1 Hue And The Colour Wheel
Hue is the common name of a colour — the family it belongs to. The spectrum gives seven hues in VIBGYOR, but a designer works with a fuller arrangement of hues set out in a circle, called the colour wheel.
The wheel used in fabric and dress design is the traditional artists’ wheel of twelve hues, built up in three groups. It is shown in Fig. 8.3.
- Primary colours cannot be produced by mixing any other colours. These are red, yellow and blue.
- Secondary colours are made by mixing two primary colours. These are orange, green and violet.
- Tertiary colours, also called intermediates, are made by mixing one primary and one secondary colour that lie next to each other on the wheel. These are red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple and red-purple.
Fig. 8.3 – The colour wheel.
Apart from these there is a group known as neutral colours — white, black, grey, silver and the metallics. These are called achromatics, which means colours without colour, since they belong to no hue family.
A common colour wheel shows every hue in its purest form and at its fullest strength. What the wheel cannot show is how much lighter or duller a hue becomes in actual use, and for that two more aspects are needed.
8.2.3.2 Value, Tints And Shades
Value describes the lightness or darkness of a hue. White has the maximum value and black the least, and every hue can be lightened or darkened without changing its family.
Value is judged against a Grey Scale, an 11-grade chart numbered from 0 to 10. It shows 0 for black, 10 for white, and 5 as the middle value for grey or for a hue at full strength. The scale is given in Fig. 8.4.
Fig. 8.4 – The grey scale and value chart.
Reading the scale gives you the two terms you need. When a hue moves towards white, the result is called a tint; when it moves towards black, the result is called a shade.
Pink is a tint of red and maroon is a shade of it, but both are still the hue red. The Grey Scale also lets you judge the equivalent value of any hue, so that a green and a blue chosen for the same garment can be matched for lightness even though they are different families. Fig. 8.5 shows a full wheel taken down into shades and up into tints.
Fig. 8.5 – Shades and tints on the colour wheel.
8.2.3.3 Intensity Or Chroma
Intensity, also called chroma, is the brightness or purity of a colour. A hue straight from the wheel is at full intensity; the same hue after mixing is duller.
Dullness results when a colour is blended with another colour, and most sharply when it is blended with the colour lying opposite to it on the wheel. A red mixed with a little green loses its brightness while remaining recognisably red.
Notice that this is a different operation from changing value. Adding white or black changes how light the colour is; adding the opposite hue changes how strong it is. Table 8.2 keeps the three aspects apart.
8.2.4 Recognising And Naming Colour
Most people with normal eyesight can tell apart the values and intensities of different hues and give them names. In the red family alone you will hear tomato red, ruby red and carrot red used as though each were exact.
These names come from the world around us — from flowers, trees and woods; from food, fruits, vegetables and spices; from birds, animals and fur; from stones, metals and minerals; and from pigments and paints. Within each group you can pick out reds and pinks, yellows and oranges, purples and violets, blues, greens, browns and greys.
The difficulty is that such names carry a regional flavour. A name that is perfectly clear in one area may call up a different colour altogether in another, and the confusion grows when orders travel between countries.
Colour By Number
For international trade, and particularly for textile products, a system of numbers used alongside names has been devised. The Pantone Shade Card sets out hues, tints and shades in varying intensities, and gives each one a code number that is recognised internationally.
A buyer in one country can then quote a code, and the mill in another country knows exactly which colour is meant. The same coding is used in fashion forecasting, where the colours expected in a coming season are announced ahead of production.
Fig. 8.6 – A shade card with coded colours.
8.2.5 Colour In Fabric: The Stage Of Application
Look closely at a few fabrics and you will see colour behaving in different ways. Some are one solid colour throughout, in others the colour seems to follow the interlacing of the yarns, and in still others it lies on the surface in a definite shape.
The difference is not accidental. Colour can be put in at any of several stages of fabric production, and the stage chosen decides what kind of design is possible.
- Fibre stage. Dyeing here is very rarely done, because it is the most expensive process of the four. It is resorted to for some manufactured fibres that are not easily dyed later, or when the design calls for a yarn made of fibres of more than one colour.
- Yarn stage. Dyed yarns woven together produce a great range of designs — woven stripes, checks, plaids and simple chambrays. Brocade and Jacquard patterning are produced this way, and when the yarns themselves are tie-dyed before weaving, the result is the Ikat pattern.
- Fabric stage. This is the most common method. It may give a plain single-coloured fabric, and it also gives designed materials through tie and dye and through batik.
- Surface application at the fabric stage. Colour may also be added by painting, printing, embroidery, and patch or appliqué work. Here the colour can be laid on in any shape and form.
The four are compared in Table 8.3.
An earlier colour goes deeper and lasts better, but allows less freedom of pattern; a later colour allows any pattern at all, but sits closer to the surface. A textile designer therefore needs a sound knowledge of the dyeing properties of different fibres and fabrics, and decides the stage and the technique from what the final product has to do.
8.2.6 Colour Schemes Or Colour Harmonies
Certain basic colour schemes are used as guides for combining colours. A scheme only suggests which hues may be put together; the values, the intensities and the quantity of each are still decided by the designer or the consumer.
That last point matters in practice. Two people may follow the same scheme and produce entirely different results, because one uses a hue over a whole garment and the other uses it in a border two centimetres wide.
Colour schemes are best studied with the colour wheel in front of you, since every one of them is described by position on the wheel. They fall into two groups — related and contrasting. Fig. 8.7 shows the main ones marked on the wheel.
Fig. 8.7 – Colour schemes on the colour wheel.
8.2.6.2 Contrasting Schemes
Contrasting schemes place hues from different parts of the wheel together, so they carry more visual energy and need a more careful hand. Five are named here.
- Complementary harmony uses two hues that lie directly opposite one another on the colour wheel.
- Double complementary uses two pairs of complements, generally neighbours on the wheel.
- Split complementary is a three-colour combination using a hue, its complement, and a neighbour of that complement. It may also use a hue together with the two neighbours of its complement.
- Analogous complementary combines the analogous and complementary schemes: a complement is chosen to dominate a group of neighbouring hues.
- Triadic harmony uses three hues that lie equidistant from one another on the colour wheel.
Notice that a contrasting scheme is not a licence to use every hue at full strength. Because the hues already differ in family, the designer usually keeps one dominant and lets the others appear in small quantity, at reduced intensity, or both.
8.3 Texture
Run your hand over a starched cotton shirt and then over a knitted vest. Your eyes had already told you they would feel different, before your fingers confirmed it.
That combined impression is texture, the second element of design. Texture is the sensory impression of sight and touch, and it refers to the tactile and visual qualities of a material. Every material has a texture of its own, whether it is a textile or not.
8.3.1 Describing Texture
A designer has to describe texture in words, on an order form or in a specification, so vague praise is of no use. Texture is described in three ways, and a full description uses all three.
- How it looks — shiny, dull, opaque, dense, transparent, translucent, glossy.
- How it behaves — hangs limp, stiff, sticking out, clinging, flowing out.
- How it feels — soft, crisp, harsh, smooth, rough, coarse, grainy, pebbly.
Notice that the second group is about movement. A fabric that hangs limp and one that stands away from the body may look almost alike on a shelf and behave quite differently once made up into a garment, so this group cannot be judged from a photograph.
Three fabrics of very different texture are shown enlarged in Fig. 8.8.
Fig. 8.8 – Three fabric surfaces enlarged.
8.3.2 Factors That Determine Texture
You learnt in Class XI that it is mainly textile materials that bring texture into daily life. Texture is not decided at one moment; it is built up at every stage from raw fibre to finished cloth, and a change at any stage changes the result.
The stages are set out in order in Fig. 8.9.
Fig. 8.9 – Where texture is decided.
Each stage contributes in a definite way.
- Fibre content — the type of fibre, whether natural or man-made, its length and fineness, and the surface characteristics of the fibre itself.
- Yarn processing and yarn type — the method of processing, the twist inserted during processing, the fineness of the yarn, and the kind of yarn used, which may be simple, complex, novelty or textured.
- Fabric construction technique — weaving, including the type of weave and how compact it is, and also knitting, felting, braiding and lace-making.
- Fabric finishes — stiffening by starching, sizing or gumming; ironing; calendering and tentering; napping; and fulling.
- Surface ornamentation — tufting, flock printing, embroidery, and stitched effects.
Several of these finishing terms are worth a plain gloss. Calendering passes the cloth between heavy rollers to press it smooth and give it lustre, while tentering stretches and holds it to the correct width as it dries. Napping raises short fibre ends on the surface to give a soft, warm nap, and fulling shrinks and mats a woollen fabric so that it becomes thicker and closer.
The ornamentation terms work the same way. Tufting draws extra yarn through the ground fabric so that it stands up in loops or cut ends, and flock printing fixes very short fibres onto the surface with adhesive to give a velvety patch.
Two lengths of cloth may therefore be made from the same fibre and still feel entirely unalike. A fine, tightly twisted cotton yarn woven closely and calendered gives a crisp, smooth shirting; a thicker, softly twisted cotton yarn woven loosely and napped gives a soft, warm flannel.
8.3.3 Texture In Dress Design
In dress design, the main purpose of texture is to create interest and to bring out the features the wearer wishes to bring out. A single plain colour can be made to look quite different simply by choosing a fabric with a matt surface instead of a lustrous one.
Where more than one texture appears in an outfit, the textures used should have a pleasing relationship with each other. Textures that quarrel — one crisp and standing away, another limp and clinging — break the unity of the whole even when the colours agree.
Texture in dress is chosen to suit four things at once:
- the figure and personal characteristics of the wearer;
- the silhouette or form of the costume;
- the occasion the garment is meant for;
- the other textures worn with it.
This is why the same length of heavy brocade that makes a fine bridal jacket makes an uncomfortable everyday shirt. The texture has not changed; the purpose has, and texture must answer to purpose like every other element of design.
8.4 Line
Hold a plain kurta at arm’s length and you will see it as an outline before you see anything else — the fall of the side seam, the curve of the neck, the level of the hem. Those are lines, and they are read by the eye before any colour or texture registers.
Line is defined as a mark that connects two points; it has a beginning and an end. It may also be formed as the outline of an object, a shape or a form.
Line is used to define the shape of a design, or the different parts of a silhouette. As an element of design it does three things at once: it indicates the shape of things, it provides movement, and it determines direction.
Line and shape are the two elements that together create the pattern or plan of every design. Every decorative detail on every article you see or use is some combination of lines and shapes.
There are two basic types of line — the straight line and the curved line.
8.4.1 Straight Lines
The straight line is a rigid, unbroken line. By itself it says little; its effect comes from the direction in which it runs, and different directions can express different moods. Fig. 8.10 shows the three directions on the same garment.
Fig. 8.10 – Direction of straight lines in a garment.
- Vertical lines stress up-and-down movement and emphasise height. Their effect is severe, dignified and reserved.
- Horizontal lines stress side-to-side movement and create an illusion of width. Because they repeat the ground line, they give a stable and placid effect.
- Oblique or diagonal lines increase or decrease width and height, depending on the degree and direction of the angle. They can create an active, startling or dramatic effect.
The diagonal is worth a second look, because it is the only one of the three whose effect is not fixed. A steep diagonal, close to upright, works much as a vertical does; a shallow one, close to level, works much as a horizontal does. Table 8.4 sets the three directions side by side.
8.4.2 Curved Lines
The curved line is one with any degree of roundness. It may be a simple arc or a complicated freehand curve, and the degree of roundness determines the curve.
A slight degree of roundness is called a restrained curve. A great degree of roundness gives a circular curve. Between the two lies every curve a designer is likely to use.
Certain curves are associated with objects and are named after them — the parabola, the scroll, the meander, the hairpin, the whiplash or serpentine, the figure of 8, and the ogee. These are shown in Fig. 8.11.
Fig. 8.11 – Named curved lines.
The effect of a curve depends on its size and its length, in the same way that the effect of a straight line depends on its direction.
- Long and flowing curved lines appear the most graceful and the most rhythmic.
- Large rounded curves lend a dramatic touch and tend to exaggerate size.
- Tiny, puffy curves give a light, youthful effect.
8.4.3 The Visual Meaning Of Line
Line expresses visual meaning, and this is the reason a designer chooses one kind over another rather than mixing them freely.
Straight lines indicate force, strength and rigidity. Curved lines appear soft and graceful when used in design.
A design in which straight lines dominate therefore reads as firm, formal and severe, while one in which curves dominate reads as soft, flowing and relaxed. Neither effect belongs to any one kind of wearer; both are simply tools, and the designer selects according to the article, the occasion and the wearer’s own wish.
8.5 Shape, Form And Pattern
Join the ends of a few lines and you no longer have lines; you have a shape. Shapes or forms are made by connecting lines, and they are the third element of design.
A shape may be two-dimensional, as a drawing or a print on paper or fabric is. It may also be three-dimensional, as an object that can be viewed from three or more sides — a human body, for instance, or the garments on it.
Because shapes are formed by connecting lines, the character of the lines used decides the character of the shape. A shape built only of straight lines is quite unlike one built only of curves, and by combining the two kinds of line in different ways an endless variety of shapes can be made.
8.5.1 The Four Groups Of Shapes
However varied they look, shapes fall into four basic groups. Fig. 8.12 shows one example from each.
Fig. 8.12 – The four groups of shapes.
- Natural shapes copy nature, or copy the common shapes of objects made by people.
- Stylised shapes are simplified or modified natural shapes. Some part may be distorted or exaggerated.
- Geometric shapes are those that can be formed mathematically, or that give a similar impression. They can be drawn using rulers, compasses or other measuring instruments.
- Abstract shapes are free-form. They do not resemble any specific object, though they may suggest different things to different people because of personal association.
The four are compared in Table 8.5.
The boundary between the first two groups is worth watching, because most fabric motifs sit in the second. A designer who draws a bird exactly as it is has produced a natural shape; the moment the tail is lengthened and the feathers reduced to three curves for easy repetition, the same bird has become a stylised shape.
8.5.2 Shape And Form In Fabric And Apparel
In a length of fabric, shape and form show up in three places at once.
- In the fall or drape of the material — the shape the cloth itself takes when it hangs.
- In the shape of the ornamentation and the motifs — a motif being the single unit of design that is repeated over the cloth.
- In the placement or repeat of those motifs, which is to say the final pattern formation.
In apparel, shape and form appear as the silhouette, the cut, and the final detailing of the garment. The silhouette is the outermost form; the cut divides that form into parts; the detailing places smaller shapes within those parts.
This is where the earlier elements meet. Two fabrics may carry the same motif and behave quite differently, because one drapes softly into rounded folds and the other holds a stiff, angular fall — a difference of texture showing itself as a difference of form.
8.5.3 Pattern
A pattern is formed when shapes are grouped together. It is the arrangement, not the single unit, that makes a pattern.
The grouping may be of one shape used throughout, or of two or more types of shape used together. The arrangement itself may also be natural, stylised, geometric or abstract, so a natural motif can be set out in a strictly geometric arrangement, and often is.
The three common placements are shown in Fig. 8.13.
Fig. 8.13 – Three placements of a motif on fabric.
The choice is a practical one, not merely a matter of taste. A single motif suits a garment where one area is to be the centre of interest; a border suits a sari, a dupatta or a curtain, where the eye follows an edge; an all-over pattern suits yardage that will be cut up, since no part of it is more important than any other.
8.6 Principles Of Design
Two people may work with the same fabric, the same colour and the same cut, and produce garments that are not equally pleasing. What separates them is not the elements they used but the way those elements were combined.
The development of a successful design depends on understanding the basic design principles. They are the rules that govern how design elements are mixed in the most appropriate way, and there are five of them — proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm and harmony.
Each principle is a separate idea and can be judged on its own. It is combining them successfully that produces an appealing product.
8.6.1 Proportion
Proportion concerns the relation of one part of an object to another. It is the first principle to settle, because it fixes the sizes that every later decision has to work within.
A good design does not permit easy dissection. The elements are so skilfully blended that where one leaves off and another begins is not really apparent.
The relationship may be created in size, in colour, in shape and in texture. All of these need to be pleasingly related to each other and to the whole.
8.6.1.1 The Golden Mean In A Garment
Proportion in dress is generally based on the golden mean, represented by ratios such as 3:5:8 and 5:8:13. In such a ratio the smaller part 3 stands to the larger part 5 as the larger part 5 stands to the whole 8.
Worked into a garment, this means the garment is divided horizontally into sections of 3:5, 5:8 or 8:13. These divisions fall at the waistline, the yoke and the hemline. A dress appears pleasing when the blouse, the skirt and the total represent the ratio 3:5:8.
Two worked examples make the arithmetic concrete.
- In a skirt-and-blouse outfit, the blouse represents 3 and the skirt represents 5, so the combined effect represents 8.
- In a shirt-and-trousers outfit, the shirt represents 5 and the trousers represent 8, so the combined effect represents 13.
The proportions are shown on a figure in Fig. 8.14.
Fig. 8.14 – Golden mean divisions in a garment.
8.6.1.2 Proportion Of Colour, Texture, Shape And Form
Proportion is not only a matter of length. It applies to every element in turn.
Proportion of colour is created when different colours are used for the upper and lower garments in the same golden-mean relation — the smaller area of one colour set against the larger area of another.
Proportion of texture is achieved when the textures chosen suit the size of the wearer, since texture changes apparent size. A heavy, bulky texture is visually large and will dominate a small, slight frame, while a fine, close texture reads as smaller.
Proportion of shape and form concerns the size and positioning of motifs or prints, which should be in proportion to the size of the wearer. A large-scale print occupies a small garment entirely and a small print may disappear on a large one.
Divisions And Apparent Length
Bodies differ in width, in the length of the waist or torso, and in the length of the legs. Clothing modifies these apparent proportions, and a designer who understands the effect can work with any figure rather than against it.
The rule is simple and it is purely optical. Dividing a length into two equal parts draws attention to the division and makes the whole read as shorter and wider; dividing it unequally lets the eye travel further before it stops, and the whole reads as longer.
This is why the position of a waistband, a yoke seam or a hem band matters as much as its colour. A high-waisted bodice, for example, moves the horizontal division well above the natural waist, which is why it is used in maternity wear where the fullness of the abdomen would otherwise fix the eye at the middle.
8.6.2 Balance
Balance is the equal distribution of visual weight from the central point of a garment. A garment needs to be balanced both vertically, from the centre line outwards, and horizontally, from top to bottom.
All the elements of design — line, form, colour and texture — are considered while creating balance in a dress. A dark colour, a heavy texture and a large shape all carry more visual weight than their pale, fine or small counterparts, and they are placed accordingly.
Balance can be achieved in three ways — formal, informal and radial. They are shown in Fig. 8.15 and compared in Table 8.6.
Fig. 8.15 – Three types of balance.
Formal Balance
An average human body is symmetrical, which means it appears much the same on each side of a central vertical line. Two arms, two eyes and two legs are seen on either side of the central axis, though slight differences always occur, and where one side differs noticeably, carefully designed clothes can reduce the difference.
Formal vertical balance is the least expensive and the most expected type of design, and it is the balance found on less expensive garments. It gives a feeling of stability, dignity and formality, but repeated without relief it tends to become monotonous.
Horizontal balance works from top to bottom rather than side to side. It is used to adjust the apparent weight of the upper and lower halves of an outfit through the elements of design — a darker hue on the larger area, for instance, since a dark colour reads as visually lighter in weight.
Informal And Radial Balance
Informal balance, also called asymmetrical balance, places unlike parts at unequal distances from the centre line so that their visual weights still even out. A single large motif near the centre may be balanced by two small ones placed further out.
Radial balance arranges the parts so that they spread outwards from a common central point, as gathers spread from the centre of a yoke. The eye is held at the centre and travels outward in every direction equally.
8.6.3 Emphasis
Emphasis, or the focal point, is the area of a garment that first attracts the viewer’s eye. It adds interest, and every design needs one — but only one, since two competing centres of interest cancel each other.
Emphasis may be created by the use of colour, of design lines, of detailing or of accessories. It works by focusing the viewer’s attention on a specific area of the garment.
Details placed near the face are particularly effective, because attention naturally travels there in conversation. An embroidered yoke, or a blouse in a contrasting colour, brings the eye upward and holds it near the face.
The same tool works anywhere on the garment, and it works in both directions. A belt in a bright, contrasting colour fixes attention at the waist; a row of buttons or a pocket flap at hip level fixes it there instead. The designer decides where the eye should rest and places the strongest contrast at that point.
Emphasis is therefore created by using contrasting colours, and by using shapes, lines and textures that differ from those around them.
8.6.4 Rhythm
Rhythm is the repeating of lines, colours, other elements of design or details to create a pattern along which the eye can flow through the material or the garment. Where emphasis stops the eye at one point, rhythm moves it from point to point.
Rhythm is created by using lines, shapes, colours and textures in such a way that they give visual unity. There are four ways of producing it, shown in Fig. 8.16.
Fig. 8.16 – Four ways of creating rhythm.
- Repetition — repeating embroidery, lace, buttons, piping or colour at necklines, sleeves and hemlines.
- Gradation — a gradual increase or decrease in the size of motifs, lines, buttons, colours or textures.
- Radiation — an arrangement in which the eye moves in an organised way outward from a central point, as in gathers at a waist, a yoke or a cuff.
- Parallelism — an arrangement in which elements lie parallel to one another, as in tucks in a yoke or knife pleats in a skirt. Bands of colour also create a rhythm of this kind.
8.6.5 Harmony
Harmony, or unity, is created when all the elements of design come together to give a pleasing effect. It is the last principle to be judged, because it can only be judged on the finished whole.
Harmony is a critical factor in producing marketable designs — that is, designs the public will accept and buy. A design may be correct in proportion, balance, emphasis and rhythm and still fail if its parts do not agree with one another.
Harmony by shape is created when all areas of a garment reflect the same shape. If the collar, the cuff and the hem are curved, then square pockets added to the same garment would interrupt the continuity of the design.
Harmony by texture is created by using textures that belong together when a dress is made in several pieces, as a salwar, kurta and dupatta are. A silk kurta and salwar worn with a cotton dupatta show poor harmony, because the three pieces do not agree in surface, in lustre or in the way they hang.
8.6.6 Composition
Composition is an artwork or a concept developed by arranging and placing the elements of design, and applying the principles of design in the best possible way within a given space.
The phrase to hold on to is ‘in a given space’. A composition is always bounded — by the size of a scarf, the front of a garment, the panel of a curtain — and the boundary is part of the problem to be solved.
In creating a composition, the designer selects the two or three principles that best suit the requirement of the final artwork and give good visual appeal. Not every principle is pressed into service every time; a scarf design may rest almost entirely on rhythm and harmony, and be the better for it.
A composition may be two-dimensional, as on a printed length of cloth, or three-dimensional, as in a made-up garment seen from all sides. Fig. 8.17 shows a two-dimensional composition.
Fig. 8.17 – A two-dimensional composition.
8.7 Preparing For A Career In Fabric And Apparel Design
Everything in this chapter so far is knowledge that people are paid to use. Design for fabric and apparel is a working field, and it has expanded so far that it can now be treated as two specialisations rather than one.
Fabric has found uses well beyond clothing and household articles, and apparel is being made from materials other than fabric alone. Each use brings its own requirements of appearance, of durability, and of what may be spent to achieve them.
8.7.1 What The Work Demands
A fabric designer needs a thorough knowledge of fibre characteristics — what each fibre can do, where it fails, and how it is processed — because it is this knowledge that makes the desired result achievable at all.
Alongside that, the designer needs a sound knowledge of the dyeing properties of different fibres and fabrics. From the requirements of the final product, the designer then decides the stage of colour application and the technique to be used, exactly as set out in section 8.2.5.
And running through all of it, the designer understands and applies the principles of design. The order in which these judgements are made is given in Fig. 8.18.
Fig. 8.18 – The fabric designer’s sequence of decisions.
Read the chain backwards and you will see why it cannot be reordered. The colour technique depends on the fabric, the fabric depends on the yarn, and the yarn depends on what the article has to withstand in use.
8.7.2 Courses And Scope
Various institutes offer both long-term and short-term courses in this field, leading to a certificate, a diploma, an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. Which one suits a particular student depends on several factors, since each programme has its own emphasis, duration and entry requirement.
Where The Work Is Found
The design industry is a vibrant, varied and dynamic creative sector, and it plays a powerful part in several areas of daily life. Working in textile or fabric design demands an awareness of changing trends and styles, and the ability to produce designs that are fresh, current, or even ahead of the fashion curve.
The pace of the work differs with the product. Textile designs meant for apparel fashion tend to have a quicker turnaround than designs meant for furnishing, because clothing seasons change faster than the furnishing of a room.
Textile designers work in industry, researching and producing designs for textile companies and for fashion houses. They may equally work for a design agency, or independently as freelancers, taking commissions from more than one client at a time.
8.8 Summary
- Design is the planning and making of an article for a purpose, so that it works well and also gives aesthetic satisfaction; it is not ornament added to a finished object.
- An article that pleases the eye but fails in use is not well designed, because a good design is the right use of materials to give what people expect in price, in colour and in service.
- Design is studied in two aspects:
- structural design, which comes from the form of the article itself — the fibre, yarn, weave or knit and the stage at which colour enters, and in a garment the cut or silhouette;
- applied design, which is placed on the finished structure — finishes, dyeing, printing, embroidery, and the trims and notions of a garment.
- Design has two factors: the elements of design, which are colour, texture, line, and shape or form; and the principles of design, which are proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm and harmony.
- Colour is seen when light striking a surface is reflected to the eye, stimulates the nerve cells of the retina, and is registered by the brain as a sensation.
- A surface that reflects all light rays appears white, and one that reflects none appears black.
- Sunlight is radiant energy that splits into the spectrum of seven colours — VIBGYOR — and also carries ultra-violet and infra-red rays that the eye cannot see.
- Short wavelengths — green, blue green, blue and purple — are the receding or restful colours; long wavelengths — red, orange and yellow — are the advancing or stimulating colours.
- Colour is specified in three aspects:
- hue, the common name or family of the colour;
- value, its lightness or darkness;
- intensity or chroma, its brightness or purity.
- The colour wheel arranges hues in three groups:
- primary colours — red, yellow and blue — which cannot be made by mixing;
- secondary colours — orange, green and violet — made by mixing two primaries;
- tertiary or intermediate colours — red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple and red-purple — made by mixing a primary with an adjacent secondary.
- White, black, grey, silver and the metallics are neutral colours, called achromatics because they belong to no hue family.
- Value is judged on the Grey Scale, an 11-grade chart from 0 for black to 10 for white, with 5 as the middle value; a hue moved towards white gives a tint and one moved towards black gives a shade.
- Intensity falls when a colour is blended with another, and falls most sharply when it is blended with the hue opposite to it on the colour wheel.
- Colour names drawn from flowers, foods, birds, stones and pigments carry a regional flavour, so shade cards give each colour an internationally recognised code number for trade and for fashion forecasting.
- Colour may be added at four stages, and the stage decides what design is possible:
- the fibre stage, the most expensive, used for fibres that are difficult to dye later or for multicoloured yarns;
- the yarn stage, giving stripes, checks, plaids, chambray, brocade, Jacquard and Ikat;
- the fabric stage, the most common, giving plain colours, tie and dye and batik;
- surface application on the finished cloth by painting, printing, embroidery and appliqué.
- Colour schemes guide the combining of hues, while the values, intensities and quantities used remain the designer’s or the consumer’s decision.
- Related schemes share at least one hue and comprise monochromatic harmony, achromatic harmony, accented neutral and analogous harmony.
- Contrasting schemes draw hues from different parts of the wheel and comprise complementary, double complementary, split complementary, analogous complementary and triadic harmony.
- Texture is the sensory impression of sight and touch, described by how a material looks, how it behaves and how it feels.
- Texture is built up at five stages — fibre content, yarn processing and yarn type, fabric construction, fabric finishes, and surface ornamentation — so the same fibre can yield very different fabrics.
- In dress, texture creates interest, and the textures used must relate pleasingly to each other and suit the wearer, the silhouette and the occasion.
- Line is a mark connecting two points; it indicates shape, provides movement and determines direction, and it is of two basic types, straight and curved.
- Straight lines take their effect from direction:
- vertical lines emphasise height and read as severe, dignified and reserved;
- horizontal lines create an illusion of width and read as stable and placid;
- oblique lines alter height or width according to the angle and read as active or dramatic.
- A curved line has any degree of roundness, from a restrained curve to a circular one, and includes named curves such as the parabola, scroll, meander, hairpin, whiplash or serpentine, figure of 8 and ogee.
- Long flowing curves appear graceful and rhythmic, large rounded curves exaggerate size, and tiny puffy curves give a light, youthful effect.
- Straight lines express force, strength and rigidity, while curved lines appear soft and graceful.
- Shapes are made by connecting lines and fall into four groups — natural, stylised, geometric and abstract.
- In fabric, shape and form appear as the drape of the material, the shape of the motifs, and the placement or repeat; in apparel they appear as the silhouette, the cut and the detailing.
- A pattern is formed when shapes are grouped together, and the grouping itself may be natural, stylised, geometric or abstract.
- Proportion is the relation of one part to another, generally based on the golden mean in ratios such as 3:5:8 and 5:8:13, with the divisions falling at the waistline, yoke and hemline.
- Proportion applies to colour, to texture and to the size of motifs as well as to length, and an equal horizontal division reads as shorter and wider while an unequal one reads as longer.
- Balance is the equal distribution of visual weight from the centre of a garment, achieved in three ways — formal, informal and radial.
- Formal balance is symmetrical, least expensive and most expected, giving stability and dignity but tending to monotony.
- Emphasis is the focal point that first attracts the eye, created by contrasting colour, design lines, detailing or accessories, and a design needs one such centre of interest.
- Rhythm carries the eye through a design and is created in four ways:
- repetition of a trim, colour or detail;
- gradation, a gradual increase or decrease in size;
- radiation outward from a central point;
- parallelism, with elements lying alongside one another.
- Harmony is created when all the elements agree, and it is judged by shape and by texture as well as by colour; it is critical to producing marketable designs.
- Composition is the arrangement of the elements within a given space, applying the two or three principles that best suit the article, in either two or three dimensions.
- A fabric designer must know fibre characteristics and processing, know the dyeing properties of fibres and fabrics, decide the stage and technique of colour application from the end use, and apply the principles of design.
- Courses in the field range from certificates and diplomas to associate and bachelor’s degrees, and designers work in textile companies, fashion houses, design agencies or independently as freelancers.
Fig. 8.19 – The chapter in one chain.
8.9 Key Terms
- Abstract shapes — free-form shapes that resemble no particular object, though they may suggest different things to different viewers.
- Accented neutral — a colour scheme using one hue together with a neutral or achromatic colour.
- Achromatic harmony — a colour scheme using only neutrals, such as black with white.
- Achromatics — the neutral colours, white, black, grey, silver and the metallics, which belong to no hue family.
- Analogous complementary — a scheme combining a group of neighbouring hues with a complement chosen to dominate them.
- Analogous harmony — a colour scheme using two or three hues that lie side by side on the colour wheel.
- Applied design — design placed on top of the basic structure of an article, such as printing, embroidery, trims and notions.
- Balance — the equal distribution of visual weight from the central point of a garment.
- Colour — the sensation produced when light reflected from a surface reaches the eye and is registered by the brain.
- Colour scheme — a guide to which hues may be combined, leaving their values, intensities and quantities to the designer.
- Complementary harmony — a colour scheme using two hues that lie directly opposite one another on the colour wheel.
- Composition — an arrangement of the elements of design within a given space, applying the principles of design.
- Design — the planning and making of an article for a purpose, so that it both works and gives aesthetic satisfaction.
- Double complementary — a colour scheme using two pairs of complements, generally neighbours on the wheel.
- Drape — the way a fabric falls and hangs of its own weight.
- Elements of design — the tools a designer works with: colour, texture, line, and shape or form.
- Emphasis — the area of a design that first attracts the eye and holds it.
- Focal point — the point at which emphasis is placed in a garment or article.
- Geometric shapes — shapes that can be formed mathematically, or drawn with rulers, compasses and other measuring instruments.
- Golden mean — the proportion expressed in ratios such as 3:5:8 and 5:8:13, in which the smaller part stands to the larger as the larger stands to the whole.
- Gradation — rhythm created by a gradual increase or decrease in the size of motifs, lines, buttons, colours or textures.
- Harmony — the agreement of all the elements of a design with one another, giving a pleasing whole.
- Horizontal lines — lines running from side to side, which create an illusion of width and a stable, placid effect.
- Hue — the common name of a colour, that is, the family it belongs to.
- Intensity — the brightness or purity of a colour, also called chroma.
- Line — a mark connecting two points, having a beginning and an end, which gives shape, movement and direction.
- Monochromatic harmony — a colour scheme based on one hue alone, varied in value or intensity.
- Motif — the single unit of design that is repeated over a fabric.
- Natural shapes — shapes that copy nature or the familiar shapes of made objects.
- Notions — the fasteners of a garment, such as buttons, hooks and zips.
- Oblique lines — slanting lines, also called diagonal, which alter apparent height or width according to their angle.
- Parallelism — rhythm created by elements lying parallel to one another, such as tucks or knife pleats.
- Pattern — the design formed when shapes are grouped together.
- Primary colours — red, yellow and blue, which cannot be produced by mixing other colours.
- Principles of design — the rules by which the elements are combined: proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm and harmony.
- Proportion — the relation in size of one part of an article to another and to the whole.
- Radiation — rhythm created when the eye moves outward from a central point, as in gathers at a yoke.
- Repeat — the placement of a motif over a fabric to form the final pattern.
- Repetition — rhythm created by using the same trim, colour or detail more than once in an article.
- Rhythm — the ordered repetition of elements along which the eye flows through a design.
- Secondary colours — orange, green and violet, each made by mixing two primary colours.
- Shade — a hue that has been darkened towards black.
- Shape or form — an area made by connecting lines, in two dimensions or in three.
- Silhouette — the outline a garment makes, seen against the light.
- Spectrum — the band of seven colours into which sunlight splits, remembered as VIBGYOR.
- Split complementary — a three-colour scheme using a hue, its complement and a neighbour of that complement.
- Structural design — the design that comes from the form of the article itself, without added ornament.
- Stylised shapes — natural shapes that have been simplified or modified, sometimes with a part exaggerated.
- Tertiary colours — the six intermediate hues made by mixing a primary with an adjacent secondary colour.
- Texture — the sensory impression of sight and touch given by the surface of a material.
- Tint — a hue that has been lightened towards white.
- Triadic harmony — a colour scheme using three hues that lie equidistant from one another on the colour wheel.
- Value — the lightness or darkness of a hue, judged on the Grey Scale from 0 to 10.
- Vertical lines — lines running up and down, which emphasise height and read as severe, dignified and reserved.
- VIBGYOR — the order of the seven spectrum colours: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.
8.10 Points To Ponder
- A garment can be given a new printed border, but it cannot be given a new cut. If structural design is fixed and applied design is not, what does that suggest about the order in which a designer should settle decisions?
- Shade cards replace a colour name with a code number, and the code travels across countries without confusion. Is anything lost when a colour is ordered by number rather than by name?
- Colouring at the fibre stage is the most expensive and colouring at the surface is the cheapest. For an institution buying fabric that will be laundered daily for years, is the cheapest stage really the cheapest choice?
- Formal balance is described as the least expensive and the most expected type of design. Why, then, do designers so often move away from it, and what do they gain and lose by doing so?
- Emphasis works by giving a design one clear centre of interest. What happens to a garment that has been given two equally strong focal points, and can a design survive having none at all?
- Harmony is called a critical factor in producing marketable designs. Does it follow that a design which breaks harmony deliberately can never succeed in the market?
8.11 Objective Questions
- (MCQ) The hues that cannot be produced by mixing any other colours are: [1]
- orange, green and violet
- red, yellow and blue
- white, black and grey
- red-orange, yellow-green and blue-purple
- (MCQ) On the Grey Scale, the value 5 stands for: [1]
- black
- white
- the middle value, grey
- full intensity of any hue
- (MCQ) A colour scheme that uses two hues lying directly opposite each other on the colour wheel is called: [1]
- analogous harmony
- monochromatic harmony
- complementary harmony
- accented neutral
- (MCQ) Ikat patterns are produced when colour is applied at the: [1]
- fibre stage
- yarn stage
- fabric stage
- surface of the finished cloth
- (MCQ) Gathers spreading outward from the centre of a yoke create rhythm by: [1]
- repetition
- gradation
- radiation
- parallelism
- (Assertion–Reason) Read the two statements and choose the correct option. [1] Assertion (A): A garment that is beautifully embroidered may still be judged badly designed. Reason (R): Design is judged by how well an article serves its purpose as well as by its appearance.
- Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
- Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
- A is true but R is false.
- A is false but R is true.
- (Assertion–Reason) Read the two statements and choose the correct option. [1] Assertion (A): Formal balance is found most often on less expensive garments. Reason (R): Formal balance repeats the same part on both sides of the centre line and is the least expensive to produce.
- Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
- Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
- A is true but R is false.
- A is false but R is true.
- (Match The Following) Match each term in Column A with its description in Column B. [1]
| Column A | Column B |
|---|---|
| a. Silhouette | i. The fasteners of a garment |
| b. Notions | ii. The single unit of design repeated over a fabric |
| c. Motif | iii. The outline a garment makes |
(Fill In The Blank) A hue that has been lightened towards white is called a ______, while one darkened towards black is called a ______. [1]
(True Or False) Intensity is changed by adding white or black to a hue. [1]
(Name The Following) Name the four groups into which shapes are classified. [1]
(Odd One Out) Monochromatic harmony, achromatic harmony, triadic harmony, accented neutral. Pick the odd one out and give a reason. [1]
8.12 Check Your Concepts
(Short Answer) Define structural design and give one example of it in a garment. [2]
(Short Answer) State the three aspects in which a colour is specified. [2]
(Short Answer) Give a reason why dyeing at the fibre stage is very rarely done. [2]
(Short Answer) List the four ways in which rhythm can be created in a garment. [2]
(Short Answer) Differentiate between a tint and a shade, stating the basis of difference. [3]
(Short Answer) Explain, with an example, how texture is described in terms of how a fabric behaves. [3]
(Short Answer) Why does a vertical line emphasise height while a horizontal line creates an illusion of width? [3]
(Long Answer) Differentiate between related and contrasting colour schemes, stating the basis of difference and naming two schemes under each. [4]
(Long Answer) Explain how the stage at which colour is applied to a fabric affects the kind of design that is possible. Support your answer with one example from each of any three stages. [4]
(Long Answer) What would happen to a design in which two equally strong focal points were created? Explain your answer with reference to the principle of emphasis. [4]
(Long Answer) Explain the five factors that determine the texture of a textile material, in the order in which they act. [5]
(Long Answer) Describe the golden mean and explain how it is applied to the horizontal divisions of a garment. Use a worked example in your answer. [5]
8.13 Identify And Label
(Identify) Refer to Fig. 8.20. Identify the hues marked with circles, with squares and with triangles, and state how each of the three groups is obtained. [3]
(Identify) Refer to Fig. 8.11. Identify any four of the named curved lines shown, and state which of them would give the most graceful effect on a hemline. [3]
(Identify) Refer to Fig. 8.12. Identify the group to which each of the four motifs belongs, and state the one feature by which you recognised the second one. [3]
(Label) Refer to Fig. 8.15. Identify the type of balance shown in each of the three garments, and label the feature in each drawing that allowed you to decide. [3]
(Read The Chart) Refer to Fig. 8.21. State what the numbers 0, 5 and 10 represent on the Grey Scale, and explain how the chart is used to match a green and a blue for the same garment. [3]
8.14 Case And Application Based
- (Case Based) A school drama club is preparing costumes for a stage performance. The stage lighting is strong and the audience sits far back, so small details will not be visible from the last rows. The club has a limited budget and must produce twenty costumes in two weeks, all in cotton. [4]
- Would you advise the club to rely on structural design or on applied design to make the costumes distinctive? Give one reason.
- The club wants each group of characters to be recognisable at a distance. Suggest a suitable colour scheme for the two opposing groups and justify your choice.
- Explain why a fine, small-scale printed motif would be a poor choice for these costumes.
- (Case Based) A designer is asked to create a printed cotton dupatta. The client wants a mango motif drawn from nature, a clear centre of interest, and a design that will still look balanced when the dupatta is draped rather than laid flat. [4]
- Would you advise a natural or a stylised treatment of the mango motif for a repeating print? Give a reason.
- Which placement — single motif, border or all-over — best suits a dupatta that will be draped? Justify your answer.
- Name the principle the designer must apply to create the centre of interest, and state one way of achieving it.
- (Application Based) A tailoring unit receives an order for uniforms for the housekeeping staff of a hotel. The fabric offered has a heavy, bulky texture and a large all-over print. The staff will wear the uniforms through long working shifts. [5]
- Comment on the suitability of the texture for this end use, giving two reasons.
- Explain, using the principle of proportion, why a large all-over print may not suit every member of the staff equally.
- The unit is asked to add one horizontal band of a contrasting colour to the garment. Explain how the position of that band changes the apparent proportions of the wearer.
- Suggest one change to the fabric specification that would improve the garment for daily use, and justify it.