1. Textile Designer Brittany McLaughlin
Creative Director, Rose Valley Textiles
Nepris Session November 10, 2015

2. Education
Philadelphia University BS cum laude Textile Design University of the Arts MFA Sculpture

3. Work Experience
Knoll Textiles/Suzanne Tick | Designer/PM M. Finkel & Daughter | Sales Associate Philadelphia University | Assistant Professor Woolrich | Merchandising Analyst Larson Design Group | Marketing Rose Valley Textiles | Creative Director Guildery | Artist

4. Textile Design & Surface Design
Textile designer is knowledgeable about fibers, yarns and fabric constructions (weave, knit, nonwoven), trends, color, cycle of the seasons, as well as pattern design & development Surface Designer creates patterns to be printed on a product (fabric, wallpaper, stationery). Less knowledge of textile constructions and properties.

5. Job Responsibilities
Trend Research Market Research Pattern Design & Development Handweaving Website development Marketing (traditional and social media) Sales

6. Rose Valley Textiles

7. A Good Designer: Skills & Attributes
Artistic & Creative Ability Technical Skills – hand & digital (drawing, painting, sewing, Adobe) Awareness of audience Keen sense of observation re: color & style trends Have a good eye for materials and understand their specific applications Communication skills – ability to share ideas and have a dialogue Environmental and economic understanding of designs An openness to new ideas Be a Team Player – no one works alone Ability to separate self from work Confidence Strong business sense – understand budgets, marketing, sales are vital to getting designs produced and sold

8. How long did it take you to learn how to use the technology needed for designing?
Lifelong learning…

9. Where are textiles printed?

10. 5 Types of Textile Printing
Block Printing Rotary Printing Screen Printing Heat Transfer Printing Digital Inkjet Printing

11. Block Printing

12. Rotary Printing

13. Screen Printing

14. Heat Transfer Printing

15. Digital Inkjet Printing
Video:

16. Is there a future with textiles in the US?
Other applications for Textile Designers

17. Textile Design Schools
Philadelphia University – RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design)

18. Designing for Spoonflower

19. Spoonflower Design Tools
Color Map Color Guide The Spoonflower Handbook Swatch Cards for Fabric Samples

20. Designing for Spoonflower
File Resolution = 150 dpi File Types = .tif .jpg .png .gif Design for finished repeat size – Design in a square format Examples (inches” x 150 dpi = repeat size) 4” x 4” = 600 x 600 px 12” x 12” = 1800 x 1800 px 24” x 24” = 3600 x 3600px Consider your fabric width when determining repeat size – be sure it is divisible for complete repeats

21. Know your apparel fabrics
Performance Pique – yoga tops, polo shirts, sporty dresses Cotton Poplin – shirting, skirts, dresses, pjs Poly Crepe de Chine – blouses, flowy dresses, lingerie, scarves Cotton Ultra Lawn – lightweight apparel Silky Faille – dresses, blouses, scarves Performance Knit – athletic apparel Modern Jersey – T-shirts, dresses, maxi skirts, headbands Minky – lounge wear Organic Cotton Knit – T-shirts, dresses, baby clothes Organic Cotton Sateen - Clothing Sport Lycra – Athletic apparel Silk Crepe de Chine – dresses, blouses, pjs, lingerie, lining

22. Designing Fabric Designs in Illustrator
Illustrator CS6 and CC (Creative Cloud) have the ability to make repeat patterns easily. Other versions can be used too with another technique. I’ll show you both.

23. Q & A

24. Contact Information
Brittany McLaughlin
Rose Valley Textiles