Category: Fashion + Soft Goods

5 Essential Steps in the Fashion Design + Development Process

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories 2018, Design + Development, Fashion + Soft GoodsTags ,

Creating clothing is not rocket science. Unless you plan on pitching a collection of space suits to NASA, then you will definitely want to study more about that space. But still, no matter what you are planning to design, there should be a purpose, reason, and vision behind it.

Now, what are the steps?
They are as simple as the following:

5 Essential Steps in the Fashion Design + Development Process
1// Who are you designing for?
2// What are you planning to offer to your targeted audience?
3// When do you plan to launch?
4// Where are you going to launch?
5// Why should your targeted audience buy from you, and not all the other existing brands out there?
6// How are you going to convince your why to the who when executing steps 2 and 4 by step 3?

Basically, have a plan.
Even better, a business plan.

Sorry to tell you, this post won’t be able to give you a shortcut. Ultimately every decision leading up to your baby being born is a critical one, so cut out the shortcuts when building the foundation.

Once you know your who, what, when, where, why, and how, you may need some expert help to translate those ideas into a tangible product line. If you are looking for some guidance to start or real assistance for your young business, send us an inquiry! We would love to help you reach your goals.

Want to learn more?
Check out our Samples to see
how we built designs for our clients!

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// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

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My Discovery Channel: Hong Kong

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories 2018, Fashion + Soft Goods, PhotographyLeave a comment on My Discovery Channel: Hong Kong

Over 2 months ago, I was on my first longest business related trip to Asia. I had visited 5 cities out of 3 countries in just about a month! Experiencing Summer and Winter seasons within a few weeks time. On this post, I am going to tell you what I have learned from my visits in Hong Kong!

For the very first time, I am attending a trade show under my own company, going in as a Buyer! The good and (can be) bad feeling of being an entrepreneur is that you get to wear different hats, exploring possibilities by looking at businesses at different angles and perspective.

I went to the Hong Kong Fall/Winter Fashion exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. It is one of the biggest international trade shows in the Fashion Industry. As a Creative Service provider, I come across a lot of new client requests on Design and Product development quite often, having knowledge and connection with good manufacturers are generally key to my company success.

To learn more about the different trade shows in Hong Kong, please visit www.hkcec.com. 

Hong Kong is a place filled with lots of culture and history, and I have just started to appreciate more as I get older! I haven’t appreciate the city as much during my teenage years. It’s funny to find myself in full tourist mode every time I revisit this beautiful place. I became more interested in exploring and paid closer attention to every little thing about this little, densely packed island. I began to fall in love with the historical sites in Hong Kong Island side.

Besides all the colorful and award winning skyscrapers, there are nature reserved open marshes on the New Territory side. The Mai Po Marshes is one of the biggest open fields in Hong Kong, it is great place for those who enjoy submerging themselves in nature. This is often the place for bird lovers and photographers to capture a variety species of birds that pass by the marshes throughout the year.

To learn more about Mai Po Marshes,
please visit www.wwf.org.hk

Buddism is one of the most popular religions in Hong Kong. Ever since I was a little girl, I would hear my Grandma visiting Wong Tai Sin every single important Lunar Calendar dates. I was raised under a Christian family, so visiting the temples was not a thing my family would do. For that reason, I have heard of the Wong Tai Sin template many many times, but never really visited until this trip!

I took my Grandma for a visit on a day later in the afternoon. The place is well-known for being crowded and full of smoke. When we got there, there weren’t many people because it was already closed for the day! I took the opportunity to take some memorable pictures of my Grandma at her favorite place – Wong Tai Sin.

To learn more about Wong Tai Sin Temple,
please visit www.discoverhongkong.com.

A week later, it was Chinese New Year. My relatives decided to take my Grandma back to Wong Tai Sin for their early year traditions – pay a visit and place an incense, pray that the Buddha will watch over us for the year. How could I not tag along and check out this cultural event? I went, and oh boy! The crowd and smoke were unbearable. Despite all the cloudy smoke, it’s actually a beautiful place inside! We stayed and left within an hour, it was quite a scene.

Lastly, let’s talk about food! I am not a big foodie, but I do enjoy trying new things that the States doesn’t offer. Asia is famous for coming up with their own version of food for chain fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s. On this trip, I get to try out the new purple yam flavored soft-serve Oreo cone at McDonald’s! It’s not bad, but if I have to choose between chocolate, I will still go for chocolate!

And that concludes today’s post, hope you enjoyed it!
Stay tuned for the next city post – Thailand!

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

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Under the Water

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories #100PrintsByStephanieIp, 2018, Fashion + Soft Goods, Graphics, IllustrationsTags , Leave a comment on Under the Water

Happy 2017! I hope your year is off to a great start!
In 2016, it was getting harder for me to find time to explore and create while there was so much happening in my world of Creativepreneurship. I am hoping my first year as a Creative Consultant will help shape my perspective on my journey ahead.

My second batch of 5 prints has finally come together! In fact, they are up for sale on my – I call it “Made-To-Order Shop” – operated by Society6! I find this platform incredibly sustainable for small creative product business owners who have the desire to sell products, but do not wish to store unbearable amounts of inventory that may not even end up selling. Besides, we live in an abundant world, where we should consider how our creation will affect the rest of the world.

Enough of me talking – let’s look at what I’ve to share with you today! This group of prints is inspired by the creatures under the water.

#1 Jellyfish

Medium: Watercolor, ink
Products: Tote, zipper pouch

#2 Seastar

Medium: Ink
Graphic Manipulation: Watercolor

Products: Zipper pouch set, clock

#3 Octopus/Squid

Medium: Ink
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator

Medium: Ink, watercolor

#4 Seaslug

Medium: Watercolor
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator

Products: Framed art print

That’s it for this batch! Let me know what your thoughts are. If you are interested to see more behind the scenes stuff on these print creations, feel free to follow me on Instagram @sipbystephanieip!

Thank you for reading, until next time, have a creative start of your 2017!

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

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Oriental Breeze

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories #100PrintsByStephanieIp, 2018, Fashion + Soft Goods, Graphics, IllustrationsTags , Leave a comment on Oriental Breeze

Ever since I was a little girl, I have found the Japanese culture interesting and unique. It was not until my Mom told me that I hold 1/16 of Japanese blood in me, then I realized my appreciation of Japanese art and culture makes perfect sense.

My recent trip to Okinawa in Japan was a memorable trip I took with my Dad. It was especially exciting to explore the different types of food and snacks in the convenient stores. The beautiful and graphical package designs make everything look tempting.

Our first stop was at this local convenience store that sold all kinds of stuff you would normally find at a 7-Eleven in the U.S.

Of course, ice cream was our first pick!
(Left) Match green tea ice cream sandwich with pancake
(Right) Sweet purple yam, which is Okinawa’s specialty crop, in ice cream form. 

There are endless options of soft drinks, cold and hot. My favorite was the Royal brand milk tea.

My travel buddy, Almond, with yet another milk tea drink by Ti-Ha.

This McDonald’s salt and pepper packaging was especially smart looking, I thought.

Through the sketching and design process, I have noticed how my appreciation of Japanese art and culture has somewhat of an influence on the outcome of the prints. The first batch of 5 prints was a total exploration of my Chinese heritage. What do you think?

Medium: Ink
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator

Products: Clock, framed art print, leggings, cushion, tote
Graphic Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop + Illustrator
Products: iPhone case, leggings, rectangular pillow, zipper pouch set

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for the continuing story of my exploration process! Feel free to let me know your thoughts, would love to hear all of them. ☺

You can now shop for these prints and printed products on my Society6 shop. Click here to get to my shop.

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

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Seeds

Author stephanieip.comPosted on Categories #100PrintsByStephanieIp, 2018, Design + Development, Fashion + Soft Goods, Graphics, IllustrationsTags , Leave a comment on Seeds

Every artist draws inspirations from different places.
For us, we love nature and continuously find fascinating things we see that has potential to turn into an art piece.
This series of black and white print is inspired by seeds from the very beginning of…

My first pumpkin carving experience! 

While I was washing up the pumpkin seeds for roasting, I noticed a very organic and beautiful pattern forming as I spun the cluster in water.

I thought, “I just got inspired!”
Next, I started to look into other types of seeds, their organic shapes and colorations.
While pumpkin seeds were nice, I found sunflower seeds to be more appealing.
Then, the inspiration became sunflower seeds focused because of its two tone colors.

Here’s our creative process in less than 20 seconds!

So, what inspires you?
We live by this quote by Albert Einstein every single day.

Hope our sharing of our exploration of the sunflower seed creation has given you some ideas in life.
Check out our Instagram page to see all the patterns and collage!

You can now shop for this collection on my shop at Society6! Click here to get to my shop.

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

More Posts | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

// Stephanie Ip

Stephanie is a Creative Director and Consultant, providing creative strategy development support to small and large scale businesses in the industries of Fashion and Soft Goods. She specializes in Design and Development. Learn more about her here.

More Posts | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn