Some Design Principles

 What is usually meant by design principles are a set of considerations that designers are called upon to use when developing items – whether these be clothes, web sites, buildings, or some other form of design. These principles vary in number, but include the following : balance, emphasis, value, scale, rhythm, unity, and, sometimes, illusion of motion. In addition, some sources speak of “design elements” – these include “shape”, “form”, “line”, and “texture”, and also, with particular reference to fashion, “silhouette”. However, neither these design principles nor the so-called design elements are of direct interest to the consumer. What we at g.moda call “fashion engineering” calls on the use of design principles which are more relevant to the consumer and on a process of design which more systemically addresses a wide range of consumers needs (N.B. The American Heritage Dictionary defines design as : “To conceive or fashion in the mind; invent,” and “To formulate a plan”, and defines engineering as : “The application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems.”)

The design principles laid out earlier, from a fashion engineering perspective, are examples of constraints that go into the design process or of factors that should be addressed. What we mean by design principles, however, are characteristics that solutions may need to incorporate to meet client needs – things like expressivity, comfort, and flexibility. We further frame our understanding within the perspective that clothes are a bidirectional form of communication between the individual and the environment (where by “environment” we include both its physical and social dimensions). Within this communications framework, we distinguish between two groups of characteristics – those concerned with the role of clothes as sending messages (what we call the “forward channel”), and those concerned with the role of clothes as receiving messages (what we call the “back channel”). We further suggest that much current fashion design is heavily oriented towards addressing the forward channel, and considerably less focussed towards the back channel.

Let us begin by looking at the forward channel, the expressivity of clothes. Here is a list of characteristics which fashion solutions should aim for to a more or less greater degree as a function of individual preference : originality/conformity, trendiness/conservativeness, quality, shapeliness, moodiness, romantic character, etc. These are the kind of factors that play into modern fashion design as it is currently practiced. Hence, for example, uniforms send a message of conformity. Designer brands actually send an ambivalent message, since they present themselves as original products, but the more people buy one designer’s products, the more they are adhering to a particular message and hence express conformity. For example, the wearing of Converse running shoes among particular groups of young people is a clear message of conformity, even though the brand is original!

The quest for originality in fashion design is very much a characteristic of the forward channel. But what about the back channel? The back channel concerns characteristics that have more to do with how we experience the environment than with how the environment experiences us. These characteristics include Comfort, Permeability, Flexibility, Accessibility, Compatibility, Readability, Durability, Sustainability, Fit and Internal Structure. The increasing interest in the use of sustainable fabrics is an example of a back channel preoccupation that has become mainstream in relation to fashion design. In the back channel, however, we are less interested in originality than in meeting a wide range of functional goals. Indeed, ideally, we would like our clothes to be comfortable, accessible, flexible, durable, to support sustainability, and to fit well, to mention but some of these desirable characteristics. However, meeting all these characteristics usually involves trade-offs – hence, one can meet some of these needs only if others are sacrificed. Hence, for example, more durable fabrics are often less comfortable or less flexible.

Some of these characteristics may not be fully clear. For example, what do we mean by readability? Some of us, when in a hurry, may put a sweater on back to front, or when buttoning a shirt realize we have started buttoning at the wrong place. Or we may try to put our head into a sleeve hole instead of the neck opening. These are readability issues. Ideally, a garment should be fully readable – that is, you should know instantly, under all circumstances, which button goes with which buttonhole, where the neck opening is, etc. Although most of us do these things only occasionally, they may represent more severe difficulties for someone who is blind, or someone who is recovering from a stroke. Accessibility, likewise, concerns our ability to get into or out of our clothes. Sometimes clothes are harder to get on (or off), and, again, for some groups of people, accessibility is a major issue – this may be the case with the elderly, or with people confined to a wheelchair, for example.