Last week we have covered step 1 to 5 of my approach to your own design. It’s here if you have missed it.You might have liked it or found your own way to make new designs. Either way, we will continue to the next part, a more practical part of designing. In this post, we will finalise our design and once we have reached step 10, it will be time to do some leather craft.
Step 6: Final design
Once you have turned your inspiration into a design which suits the client’s wishes. You have thought about all the practical requirements and the properties of the materials. It is time to finalise all these features into a final design. You will have to make your final decisions. Though before we will go on to step 7 it might be a nice gesture to present this design to your client. She/he might have some additional wishes or you can explain why you choose to do something this or that way. Once, everyone is happy, let’s go to the next step.
Step 7: Practical design
In the practical design, you will need to mark all the measurements, stitching lines, cutting lines and even the order of how to ensemble the product. You will know how much leather you will need, how many meters of the thread you will need and how long your zippers, for example, need to be. Though before we cut the leather we will first continue to step 8.
Step 8: Mall
Before you ruin your expensive leather by having a slight miscalculation or by having a not so sturdy hand it might be an idea to first make a mall. I usually make it of very thick cardboard so I can also use it as a mall to scratch the design onto the leather. Besides of that you also can see the first version of your design in 3D once you stick all parts together.
Step 9: Redesign
It might be that once you have made your mall you stumble upon some flaws in the sketches. Right now you are happy that you did make a mall after all. If your design is already perfect skip this step and continue to step 10. If there are some points of improvement you are still able to redesign the product and finish your design as described from step 6 to 8.
Step 10: Digitalise
You have put so much effort into this final product and we are living in 2016 2017 (whoops), it might be wise to digitalise your product. It might save you much time once the client is so pleased, he or she wants it in five other colours as well. Or once you are looking for your signature or a special detail, it might be nice to look through all your designs on the computer. Save them also really carefully because these are your designs and that makes it your intellectual property (IP).
We have reached the end of the 10 steps of designing. For now, it is time to get crafty and put some life into your designs. Do you have a certain approach to designing? Maybe you have some awesome tip and tricks I can add to this list to help each other. Looking forward to your designs and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram to see how I put some life in my design/project.
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