Fashion Illustration and Design
What the exam tests
Fashion figure proportions, croquis construction, technical flats, colour theory, and the elements and principles of design applied to a garment.
Core rules
- A fashion croquis is elongated, usually 8–9 heads tall; a realistic figure is about 7.5 heads. The extra length goes mainly into the legs.
- Technical flats are drawn to scale, front and back, with seams, darts, topstitching, grainlines and trims shown; they are working drawings, not illustrations.
- Colour wheel: primary (red, yellow, blue), secondary (orange, green, violet), tertiary. Schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic.
- Elements: line, shape, colour, texture, space. Principles: balance, rhythm, emphasis, proportion, harmony.
Worked example
A 27 cm croquis is drawn at 9 heads. Reasoning: one head unit = 27 ÷ 9 = 3 cm. If the design places the waist at 3.5 head units from the crown, the waist line is 3.5 × 3 = 10.5 cm from the top of the page. The bust at 2.5 heads would be 7.5 cm from the top. This keeps the figure consistent rather than guessing each landmark.
Traps
- Drawing a realistic 7.5-head figure for a fashion illustration brief.
- Omitting grainlines, topstitching or back views on technical flats.
- Using too many focal points, so the design loses emphasis.