In today’s day and age, there are many aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own brand. If you are reading this, you are most likely operating or looking into starting a physical product brand. Is that right?
Throughout my career in the industries of fashion and consumer products, the most frequently asked questions often go toward production. “How can I turn my idea into a reality product?” Once one gets closer to knowing the process of manufacturing, tons of questions start to come up. Such as…
“What is a tech pack?”
In short, Tech Pack stands for Technical Package. It is a package of detailed information about the item one is looking to produce. The terminology is most often used in the manufacturing industry for consumer products. It serves as a blueprint of the product, including layers of information for the factory to follow in the manufacturing process. Below you will find a general list of items a tech pack typically includes.
Technical Drawing Page
Before the digital age, the drawing was generally hand-drawn and outlined with black ink. Now with software tools such as Adobe Illustrator, it has become easier to create technical drawings with the power to manipulate sizing and to add various line details to indicate construction needs.
Here’s an example of a technical drawing of a men’s basic tee. There are suggestions for the shape and size of the design, stitching details, and placement of labels.
Callouts
Everyone’s interpretation of the fit of a garment can vary, so even though the drawing suggests a lose fit in the designer’s point of view, in the factory’s understanding, the fit can look like a straight fit. Therefore, the callouts can ensure the designer clearly communicates the measurement specifics to the pattern maker at the factory.
For example, do you see the blue brackets and numbers over the technical drawing above? Those are the call outs to be identified on the specs sheet.
Specs Sheet
Moving on! Let’s get the measuring tape out. By providing measurements to the design, you are communicating to the pattern maker the exact size you have in mind for the design’s shape and fit. Numbers are a universal language, but don’t forget there are different types of measuring units. Depending which factory you are planning to use, you want to make sure your specs are in the correct measuring units to avoid confusion down the road.
Tip:
European and Asian countries use centimeters (cm) USA uses inches (in)
Bill of Materials
So, you found a special fabric you plan to use for your design, how should you include the details? First, you will want to find out what type of fiber content and weight it holds. The factory can’t read your mind, so you want to provide as much clear information as possible. If you have physical reference samples to provide, the better. Gather all the details and put them on a single page.
There’s a lot more that goes into a comprehensive tech pack. If you are looking to build one out yourself, you are in luck! To get you started, we have put together a Tech Pack Starter Kit for self starter to use. It is a template where you simply enter data, save, and then print! Download our free Tech Pack Starter Kit now.
If you are stuck, and looking for some help, we are just an email away! Reach out to us here.
// 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.
About a month ago, while I was flipping through new trending movies to watch on Netflix, I stumbled upon this gorgeous movie cover that said “Chasing Coral”, with these radiant coral reefs on the bottom. As a designer myself, I am often attracted to beautiful images, people and things – this movie poster definitely did a fantastic job of pulling me into checking out what this movie is all about.
The movie title and poster speak for itself; it is indeed a documentary about coral; specifically, the dying of coral reefs. Over the past few years, I have heard about the bleaching event of Coral Reefs, but never quite understood or cared enough to dig deeper into the topic.
Long before I declared my major in Fashion Design at Parsons, I knew I was very much interested in nature, and wanted to devote my career to designing meaningful sustainable products that will benefit the world. In the past 7+ years, my working relationships with various types of companies that design and sell products had reassured my deep belief in sustainable designs. One of the most inspiring times I had was working with Yeohlee Teng in New York City, who after 30 years, still devotes her high fashion business to sustainable fashion that is classy yet consequential. Interested to learn more about Yeohlee? Check out her company website .
For those of you who don’t know, coral bleaching is a natural reaction to, and warning sign for the changing temperature of the ocean.
What are the causes of this temperature change? As part of the ecosystem, our day-to-day behaviors have the most influence on how the environment changes and develops over time. The waste every single one of us produces and contributes to producing is one of the main causes of climate change.
Here I have gathered 5 hard facts about this bleaching event:
1// Corals are animals who breathe and eat, just like us 2// The coral reefs house vast amounts of ocean life 3// Rising ocean temperatures due to climate change 4// The bleaching event is happening to more than 80% of reefs nationwide 5// The impact is enormous on both ocean and human life
The quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson says it right, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” You wouldn’t eat a fruit that has become an unfamiliar color, because you know it has turned bad. But will you turn to yourself when you see how our Mother Nature is displaying signs of sickness?
The message I’m trying to bring across is very simple – be aware, be considerate, and question yourself before making any decisions about the things you choose to consume daily.
So what does this movie have to do with fashion?
Let’s step back to think for a second. Did you know that all the bright and neon colors that are printed on the clothes we wear are toxic to the environment?
Here are 3 main reasons why everyone of us are responsible:
1// We are part of the ecosystem of this planet 2// Nature cannot keep up with, or recover quickly enough, from the speed of human-generated pollution 3// Human beings are over consuming what nature can provide.
The industrial revolution for sure accelerated industrial production processes and produced more jobs for decades. At the same time, it had also increased the basic needs for factories to stay in business. In order for a business to make profit, factories often set a required high minimum quantity, which pushes brand owners to place high volume orders they may or may not even end up selling.
Ocean Inspired Wall Art Watercolor Print | Coral Reef Available on Etsy.
Working in the industry of fashion gave me the opportunity to witness how polluting the production process can be. I have to be honest – low quality, mass produced products that are sold in the market today absolutely turn me off. As part of being a product-based business owner myself, I think we really should fuse sustainability actions into our design and development process. As a smart consumer, one should be mindful that deciding to purchase cheap clothing and/or products whose creation generates mass pollution can have massive impacts to the environment we live in.
Watercolor Coral Reef Diamonds Throw Pillow Available on Society6.
In an effort to educate and spread awareness on climate change and saving our coral reef ecosystems that are in serious trouble, a month ago, I had posted a week’s worth of #Awareness posts on my Instagram, which you can check out @SIPbyStephanieIp, or click here.
Interested in purchasing this print pattern design? Contact us
My goal for the weeklong awareness posts is to bring out a message through my artwork, created using my artistic and technical skills in illustration and textile design. As part of my business practice of sustainability, all art prints and printed merchandise are print on demand only. Textile prints are ready made and available for sale upon request. Best of all, partial proceeds will go toward the WILD Foundation to fund all research and promotion on all matters related to animal extinction caused by climate change. Check out the WILD Foundation to learn more.
So what else can you do to help?
You don’t need to paint or draw! Here are a few simple things you can do today.
1// Watch the fabulous Chasing Coral documentary on Netflix with 5 of your friends or family members whom you care about!
2// Check out ChasingCoral.com. The amazing team have put together some positive actions you can take to help spread the word!
3// Like and share my Instagram posts within your network to spread the #awareness!
// 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.
Thinking about our other post on Fashion Design + Development Process, the idea behind product development is rather similar. In fact, they may just be about the same, especially if the product you plan on developing falls in the category of soft goods.
Regardless of what you are planning to develop and bring into the marketplace, make sure to present the purpose, reason, and vision behind the product.
So, what are the steps? They are as simple as follow:
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 “who” of “why” when executing steps 2 and 4 by step 3?
Basically, have a plan. Even better, a business plan.
Sometimes you may not know where to start and how to obtain the information you need. You probably wish there’s a step-by-step guide to take you from point A to Z. Although, this post isn’t intended to give you that quick shortcut, it’s here to guide you into the right direction. Eventually, it will be your ultimate decisions on every step along the way before your baby is born, so a shortcut won’t do you and your business any good when building a foundation.
Once you know your who, what, when, where, why, and how, you are mostly likely ready to hire experts to help you get to your end goal quicker than learning and doing everything yourself. You will want to work with someone who can translate your ideas into a reality.
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.
Check out our case study on how we helped CozyPhones turn their ideas into a reality product!
// 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.
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:
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!
// 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.
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.
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.
Author Posted on Categories 2019, Design + Development, Fashion + Soft Goods
