It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to be a designer for a clothing brand. While there are no guarantees in the fashion world, hard work, research, and persistence can make a big difference when continuously elevating your business. Check out our top tips and techniques for design success for clothing brands.
Check How Setting The Designs
If your designs are put on the clothing even the slightest bit off from where you initially wanted them, chances are you’ll feel like your apparel needs to be better. Whether it’s one graphic, some scattered designs here and there, or a pattern all over the clothing item, each element needs to be perfectly positioned, or the entire look can seem off.
It all starts with accurate measurements. Double-check that each aspect of your design is not only the perfect size but that its spacing is how you want it, such as how far it is from the edges of the clothing and features of the apparel, including pockets. For example, if you use the Bella + Canvas quarter-zip pullover wholesale, you don’t want to put one large graphic too close to the zipper.
Compare The Colors In The Design With The Clothing
The clothing color has a lot to do with what design you use on it. For example, you’re likely not going to want to make a large area of your custom graphic the same color as the sweatshirt, nor are you going to use a white design that’s the same shade as the pants you’re putting on. Also, avoid using colors that clash because they can impact your design. The clothing and your style should complement each other, not one aspect of it taking away from another.
Research Current And Upcoming Trends
Knowing what people are currently shopping for or may shop for in the future can play an essential role in your designs. Holiday designs are easy to plan for, considering you know in advance what dates they take place, but trends are a different story.
Research is essential for determining current and upcoming trends. There are podcasts to listen to, websites to read, people-watching to do, conversations to have, and more that can help you understand those trends and figure out how to create custom designs to follow them.
Host Focus Groups
Getting direct opinions from the demographic to sell your clothes to can be a great asset for determining which designs can help your clothing brand and which are less popular and might not be worth the effort. Of course, you could host an online focus group or do one in person, but make sure you come up with design ideas you’re considering and prepare yourself to hear feedback you might not like.
When you have a variety of opinions in one room–all discussing one or more products–chances are not all of the feedback is going to be positive, just like it’s probably not all going to be negative. So it’s an excellent opportunity to get fully-honest feedback, but it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.
Invest In High-Quality Materials And Techniques
Chances are you expect the best from yourself as a designer, so don’t expect anything less from the materials you use and the methods you implement. For example, if you’re hiring a third-party printer service to put the designs on for you, they should use high-quality materials, dyes, and printing options, so your products look their best. Read plenty of reviews so you can get an idea of what their customers have to say, but also examine the items for yourself before your customers start buying them.
The techniques you use for your clothing business should be of equally-high caliber. One way is how you interact with and offer information to your customers. For example, any correspondence, whether in-person, via a comment on a social media post, or by responding to an email, should be courteous and professional. Use proper grammar and punctuation, be friendly, and let your customers feel as though they’re valued.
Design success for clothing brands involves a lot more than the product itself. Customers should be able to count on the brand to consistently offer high-quality everything, from the customer service they get when they speak to you to the clothing products they put on at the start of their day.
Study Your Fabrics
The fabric composition of the clothing you use for your designs can significantly affect the overall look of your product. Utilize some fabrics for specific designs than others, so it’s a good idea to study your textiles to know which ones are best to use.
As beneficial as research is, often the best approach is speaking to someone who is an expert in ensuring that designs look fantastic on clothing items. If you use a third-party printer service for design implementation and they have knowledgeable employees, ask them questions to determine what fabric is best to use for the design you have in mind.
Try Different Design-Creation Methods
Just because you’ve been using a particular design method for a significant period doesn’t mean you can’t take a chance and try something new. It may help you develop new design ideas, revamp the creation methods you’ve been using, or forgo your current process for the new one. There’s nothing wrong with learning new ways of doing things, significantly if it can help your clothing business. Nowadays, a multitude of design classes are available that you can take to further your knowledge.
One great way to stay on top of your design game and give your business an increased chance of success is to sit down once a month and establish design and business plans for the following month. It can help you stay on track with goals, reevaluate what you wanted to do for the current month (and what you did or didn’t do from that list), and come up with creative ideas to get yourself excited for the next several weeks.
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