Flat Sketches: From Sketch to Final Product

Their Importance in the Fashion Industry.

By Soidée Romero

In fashion, throughout the design cycle, different types of drawings can be used, them we can mention: the quick hand sketches made by hand through ideas, the “floats” that are images showing clothes as wearing a body, and the best known of all of them, inside and outside of the industry, “fashion illustrations” that communicate the vision of the designer or the brand and the Flat Sketches; to which we will dedicate this article.

The importance of Flat Sketches in the fashion design process.

Flat Sketches are an alternative for expressing ideas for those who feel they cannot draw; they are used in the design room, through the factory to shops, as protagonists of everyday documents throughout the design cycle. When they are made with the language that meets the industry standards, Flat Sketches are fast, efficient and sustainable because they help save time, money and inconvenience.

What are Fashion Flat Sketches?

They are two-dimensional black and white graphic representations of the garment that clearly describe all aspects of the garment.

Features of an effective Flat Sketch that meets industry standards.

In addition to those intrinsic in the definition, there are a number of features that describe an effective Flat Sketch that meets industry standards. We will dwell on all of them:

◦ Two-dimensional, it should never look three-dimensional; the garment is represented without a fashion figure as if it were lying flat on a table or on the floor.

◦ It shows different views; at first, the front and back views are shown, which are mandatory for any garment. Complicated garments may require additional views, either lateral, internal, and/or close-ups, that provide details and relevant information to help better understand the design.

◦ Versatile, it can be simple and basic or elegant with additional trims and can be used and understood across all sectors of the fashion industry.

◦ Symmetrical, on a consistent scale and in perfect proportion to the body that will wear the design it illustrates to communicates how the actual finished garment will look.

◦ Precise, specific and detailed; remember that the more accurate the

information is received by all those who work on the garment, the more similar it will be to the design.

Information illustrated by Flat Sketches

◦ The design details, which are the characteristics of the model itself, such as silhouette, fall, cut, fit, how the fabric should fall, flow or crimp and the types and location of accessories, whether they are trims, labels or ornaments.

◦ The sewing details, are the lines and types of seams and stitches that are seen on the outside of the garment.

◦ The construction details, how the different parts of the garment are assembled and joined.

The types of Fashion Flat Sketches

In addition to these characteristics common to all Flat Sketches, there are some particularities that, when added to the basic Flat Sketches, make them evolve into their three different types: Technical Flat Sketches, Working Flat Sketches or Linear Flat Sketches, Color Flat Sketches and Stylized Flat Sketches.

◦ The Technical Flat Sketches, Working Flat Sketches or Linear Flat

Sketches are Flat Sketches that show all the technical specifications, external and internal construction details, measurements and calls-outs that are necessary to know for the manufacture of the garment.

They focus on the technical and constructive details of the garment, especially in this type of flat, where precision is key.

They are simple and basic, rather rigid, without beautifying effects because they do not have to be beautiful but communicate accurately. They are usually made by a technical designer when the design is finished.

Although the image must faithfully show all details by itself, these Flat Sketches are limited to comments and call-outs to explain the necessary information.

These call-outs are concise and clear, with a consistent font size and type, line width and arrowhead consistently the same.

The importance of this type of Flat Sketches lies in the clarity and precision that they provide with the exact representation of the design of the garment to the smallest seam, ensuring that all those involved in the production process handle the same information and that the product matches the designer’s vision, saving time and money by reducing errors during production and reducing costly and repetitive corrections if manufacturers follow them.

On the other hand, they generate documentation by serving as a record of the versions and corrections made to reach the final sample, facilitating any revision during the development process and, in some cases, can provide legal protection of original designs and legal property rights, as behind each flagship model of each fashion brand lies a patent, and within that patent, there is surely a meticulous Technical Flat Sketch that describes the design in detail.

◦ Colored Flat Sketches are Flat Sketches in which the white color of the original drawing is replaced by color or print options, and placement for any color combination or color blocking in which the garment will be offered. These flat drawings illustrate the types of fabrics or materials to be used in the different parts of the garment and allow you to visualize the final product so that, among other things, you can quickly explain to suppliers how to use the fabrics and materials in the colors ordered.

◦ Stylized Flat Sketches are the most aesthetically appealing because they are lighter, more relaxed, rounded, subtle and interesting. These features are achieved by adding lines of expression and shadows to the original flat sketches, but always being mindful of avoiding compromising the precision of details to give them movement, attitude, dimension, and personality, thus better expressing the silhouette, fit, and drape.

◦ Their importance lies in their appeal, which makes them more understandable and popular to people outside the industry, so they can be used as collection marketing tools without the need to create a new set of images.

◦ Because of their attractiveness and popularity, they are those that the customer usually has in mind when hiring us, but these have a particular use, and when used outside of this context, the elements used to embellish the Flat Sketches have generated confusion which has resulted in manufacturing errors, that’s why it is important to ask the customer what they are going to use the Flat Sketches that we are commissioning for and have the criterion that allows us to offer them the product that suits them best, a criterion that we form having all these concepts that we are going through this article clear.

That being said, within the framework of all these characteristics, each designer who learns how to make Flat Sketches develops their own style, and each company has its own style, so once you learn to make Flat Sketches, you must be flexible and adapt to the style of the company you are working with.

Fashion Flat Sketches uses

We have already said that the use of flat drawings is widespread in the industry, and as protagonists of documents for daily use in the different stages of the design cycle, let’s take a closer look.

◦ During the design stage, you can land your ideas quickly and easily with a hand-made Flat Sketch that reflects the most important design and construction details, or you can use the Speed Designing Technique that starts from a basic garment Flat Sketch on which you work the idea, define the details and think about their execution to develop the designs.

◦ In the review and selection stage of the designs that will be part of the collection, the designer can use the previous Flat Sketches to share, communicate and review the designs with their team and/or seniors. From this stage, result documents such as Line Boards and Range Plans, which include flat sketches.

◦ Flat Sketches, are used in the Costing Sheets to illustrate the design we are working on.

◦ In the development stage, Flat Sketches are used in Tech Packs and Specification Sheets to communicate to all those involved in the production process: pattern-makers, factories, how the garment should look, and thus help them understand and execute designs accurately and effectively.

◦ During the production stage, Flat Sketches are also used in Pattern Charts.

◦ Nowadays, Flat Sketches are also used for purchasing, marketing, merchandising and sales purposes in documents such as Line Sheets, Fashion Color Cads, Presentation Sheets, and Merchandising Plans, which are viewed by suppliers, buyers, sellers, traders, customers and other people outside the industry, can also be used in Hangtags to visually describe product features and functions. And in Presentations, Catalogs, Websites, Social Networks, Customer Research Surveys, Lookbooks, Price Lists, Trend Prediction Books, Development Sheets, Portfolios, and Sales Books.

◦ Fashion Flat Sketches can be imported from Ai to Vstitcher by Brozwear software to create 3D animations, and then manipulated to create a threedimensional prototype, without the need for a complete pattern. With Artificial
Intelligence applications like NewArc.ai you can also create 3D images from Fashion Flat Sketches.

◦ Outside the design cycle, Fashion Flat Sketches are used in patterns and sewing books to illustrate designs and provide information on the design and construction of the garment.

How are the Fashion Flat Sketches made?

Originally, the Fashion Flat Sketches were made by hand, but today, the industry standard is to make them in Adobe Illustrator software.

Conclusion

Fashion Flat Sketches are indispensable visual guides and powerful
communication tool widely used in industry. From the design room to the factory and shops, they are the essence of everyday documents, and their correct preparation helps to save time, money and inconvenience throughout the process of designing, developing and producing products and their subsequent marketing; flat Sketches are fast, efficient and
sustainable. Nowadays, they are usually done using Adobe Illustrator.

Soidée A. Romero R.

Decided to pursue her passion for fashion design and illustration for women by focusing on the branches of drawing and technical design. She mastered Adobe Illustrator as a tool to develop her projects with specialized in-person and online, national and international courses at the Universidad Centro-Occidental "Lisandro Alvarado" and the educational
platform sewheidi.samcart.com.
Since 2019, she has been dedicated to freelance in the fashion industry, remotely providing accurate flat sketches services in Adobe Illustrator and detailed tech packs for women's wear that meet international industry standards to start production faster and minimize the number of prototypes and production mistakes for customers in countries such as Australia, the UK, the US and Canada.