3D Design - Module 4 - 3D for Design

Welcome to Module 4. Here we're going to talk about 3D for design. What we mean by that is using 3D as a design tool so that your designers are replacing tools like Adobe Illustrator or other 2D illustration tools with 3D. Adobe Illustrator is one of the most commonly used tools in the apparel industry. Adobe Illustrator wasn't necessarily created for our industry, but it has proven itself as a great tool and it's something that we've all adapted to, and have had some level of engagement with. One of the reasons Adobe Illustrator is so prevalent in our industry as well is because it's universally one of the only things that you will find in just about every fashion design program. Not every fashion design program teaches students how to work with 3D yet. That's part of our goal. But Adobe Illustrator, you will find in every program at different levels. Some use it a lot, some use it little. There are also design programs out there who are very focused on the creation aspect in 2D. So students may not even actually construct garments and just work strictly with doing illustrations in a 2D format, because it's something that has really become the backbone of getting that creation process started. So, as I said, 3D is not something that is in education programs for the apparel industry everywhere we go. Some programs don't include any element of 2D pattern making, so they can't necessarily walk right into doing a 3D for Design either. But this is growing. And you'll see that there are more institutions that are interested in teaching their students how to work with 3D, because we all sort of recognize that this is where the industry is going. And there are so many benefits to working in 3D that we just don't get working in 2D. So we have more and more schools coming on board, and we are happy to provide a landing place for those students because we need them to come into industry and help us move the brands forward. Another reason Adobe Illustrator has become so well used in industry is because there's such a robust network of resources. There are Illustrator files that you can download to work on garments and adapt them and modify them yourself. But just about every book as well on creating 2D flat sketches come with additional resources. Resources and CAD libraries that people can use for free. Those networks don't exist the same way in 3D yet. So when you're migrating your design team from working in 2D, make sure you have some consideration for the resources that they had with, uh, working on 2D sketches that they may not have in 3D. Uh, they can definitely build those out, and those are things that will come, especially within your own brand. The more you use 3D, Again, each one of those assets you get to save. It's like your MP3. You can pull it up whenever you need it, use it again, modify it, adapt it, and create something new with it. So those resources will come, but they may not be available at the beginning of your implementation. So give your designers a little bit of time to adjust. All right, let's take a look at some additional considerations when you're bringing your design team into working in a 3D environment, especially if they're new to 3D. and we'll also talk about some approaches that you can take if you really wanna make sure your designers have a successful transition. Remember, all of the 3D solutions have a 2D pattern component. So it does require your designers to take 2D pattern geometry, even when they wanna add details, like a pocket, and sew it onto more 2-dimensional pattern geometry. Depending on what their educational background is or their experiences in industry have been, your designers may not understand pattern very well. They may not feel comfortable in pattern, even if they do understand working with two-dimensional patterns. So make sure you leave some space for them to grow in that field. This is a great place to also allow some of the more tenured members of your team to work with the younger members, especially if the older members of the team are not as comfortable working in 3D, but have the pattern experience. This is great to build those bridges that will allow us to let people who have served the industry so long retire comfortably without losing that knowledge. This is a great new opportunity to pass knowledge. A great thing about having your designers work in 3D is you are upskilling your designers if they don't have much experience working with 2D patterns and 2D geometry for their designs. It creates an opportunity for them to learn about how those patterns are coming together to create their designs, and that helps them to become a better designer as well. When you understand that relationship between 2D and 3D and design, you come up with better ideas, and you're able to be more involved in the process. So it's a win-win, especially for your designers. When we talk about some of the reasons that you may want to do this, and go through the disruption that it might cause, to create this transition for your designers is so much of the iterations that we see in the apparel process can be caused by the way we create the designs in the first place. So when we look at two-dimensional designs for 3D bodies, there's always a disconnect there. So when designers are working in 2D, you can never accurately represent a three-dimensional garment when you are picturing it laid out flat. There's always at least a little bit of distortion. And what that does is it pushes some of those issues to your pattern team or your tech team who have to look at your designer's sketch, interpret what the garment should look like in 3 dimensions, and create what they see as what the designer intended. Then a sample is created and it goes back to the designer and they say, "Well, no, I needed the pocket a little more this way," or "This should be a little higher," or "This hemline should be a little longer." when they work in 3D, some of those issues that we can have creating samples unnecessarily get minimized because the designers are able to see their intention far more clearly than they ever would in a two-dimensional environment. On the topic of creating more accurate designs from the beginning, uh, when you're working in 3D, because you're working on an avatar or a body that is of realistic proportions, you're forcing the designers to work to scale from the beginning. One of the reasons that we get distortions in our 2D illustrations is designers are taught, usually in school, to exaggerate proportions of illustrations, and this exaggeration can also carry over to those 2D Adobe Illustrator sketches that they're sending off to the tech team, or the pattern makers, or to the factory. When you're working in 3D, the body that you're using is to scale. It's a very human form. You can even have your designers working on the same forms that your fit technicians will work on to shore up the fit of the design later. This again is another one of those areas where we can reduce some of the iterations and get to a better result faster and be more sustainable by creating less physical samples. All challenges considered, migrating from 2D to 3D design has boundless value and opportunities. If we think about a 2D illustration, it communicates the idea of the design, but if you have your designers working in 3D, your 3D simulation has the power to become your first sample. And again, this is going to reduce the iterations that you're getting from your factory or reduce some of the frustration that you may find between your design and your technical teams because In the industry, we have to sometimes learn how to interpret what the designers are showing us. So if I'm a patternmaker for a specific designer, I may look at his or her illustrations and understand instantly what they mean by the placement of a line. It sounds sort of trivial, but I remember there are certain times where I look at illustrations and I'm making the pattern for it, and the arm size seam would indicate it's one type of sleeve, or, you know, I might need some shaping or darting in the sleeve. And the designer's like, "Oh no, that's a regular sleeve." It's like, "Oh, okay." So we can reduce some of those frustrations with 3D because from the beginning, the designer has things placed intentionally and in an environment where they can understand what each of their seam placement and design decisions are doing to the final outcome of the garment. When we have our designers working in 3D from the beginning and working on bodies that are to scale, they're also becoming more effective communicators in the process. And it's a very invaluable skill to give your designers and to give to your organization. The better we communicate, the better we get along, the better we work together, and it really promotes just a happier work environment and more consistency in your design. And that is something that your end consumer consumers will always appreciate. Another reason that you really might want to think long and hard about moving into 3D, when we look at these technologies, if we think about 2D drawing technology, a lot of great things have continued to happen in new tools, but it has really reached the apex of what it can be for the apparel industry. On the other hand, 3D is at a point where we have so many great options and so many great tools, and they're only growing. Uh, if you are able to attend conferences or some of the webinars that happen within the industry to talk about where 3D is going, every conference we get new information, new tools, new players in the field. Uh, and you're not seeing the same thing with 2D. The industry is waiting for direction from you as to where they should go next and what will help you most. So get involved because new things are happening, but also step into the space of being a leader. When you're navigating the divide between going from the traditional 2D illustration method of design to 3D, there are a few ways to do that. If you take the approach where you have your designers working to build designs from scratch in 3D, it's incredibly important to have a very phased approach that gives them the time to pick up these new skills, especially if they don't have them. You will have some designers that feel very comfortable working with patterns, uh, and creating 2D geometry that will work in 3D. You may also have a solution provider that makes that process easier by showing the iterations a lot faster for those designs. And those are all great things, but you still want to make sure you're taking time to allow your designers to build those skills and work towards being proficient. Sometimes if we go too fast or we make roadmaps that have our designers trying to create things in a way that doesn't support their growth and learning, we end up with a failed implementation, and nobody wants that. As we step into this phased approach, it's always crucial and important to build confidence with your team by starting with garment types that are going to be easier for them to simulate. So for example, don't start your designers off on day one trying to simulate, uh, very complex outerwear or a tailored suit or something like that, because these garments can have 50 to 100 components easily, and it doesn't build the sort of confidence that you want to see in your team right away. If you have the opportunity to start with simpler garment types for your design team, this is, this is especially important, especially if they are learning design and pattern tools to work together in 3D at the same time. Definitely make sure you take your time. Start with the easy wins. There's nothing wrong with taking the approach of having your designers work in 3D to build designs from scratch or from styles that they've created before themselves. But there are also other approaches. So one of the other great ways to work, and we've seen this with a few brands quite successfully actually, is to have your tech team and your pattern team working with your design team to create styles and templates that your designers can build off of. So think of this as creating a sandbox for your designers. If you have garment types where the silhouettes are relatively the same season after season, so let's think men's shirts, t-shirts, or polos, things of that nature, one of the great ways to work is to have your tech team build well-fitting 3D simulations of the base garments, and then your designers can go on top of that and add materials, colors, details, stitches, all of those things. So if that is similar to your workflow already, or one of your garment categories is that consistent where your styles aren't changing in 2D geometry season after season, definitely look at that approach. This is also a great way to build your teams to work stronger together. If you have a designer and a patternmaker working on these styles together, again, you're building teamwork, you're building both of their skills, and it's just a great energy to have within your organization. A helpful consideration to your designers as you're making the migration from 2D illustrations to 3D is to think about the language and the words used and how they operate. So patternmakers and technical designers may use a completely different language and approach to creating garments than your designers will. So it's definitely helpful to have examples or people that you can call on to really work with your designers and build them up. You may even want to rely on other designers who are already working in 3D to become your training resources for your designers. There are lots of great companies that are popping up all over the world of 3D enthusiasts that want to help others on their 3D journey. One of my favorites is NoForm, based in India. They have great and extensive knowledge on fashion instruction and design and are doing amazing things in 3D. So these are the kinds of services and friends in industry that can become great resources. And they know how to speak to designers in a way that maybe a solution isn't ready to. Yeah, that's okay. But you want to make sure you get the best fit for your designers to move forward. So definitely look at who else is out there, and there's no shortage of great friends ready to help you with that journey. Thank you so much for tuning in to Module 4. There are a lot of great topics to talk about in the 3D for Design space. Right here on the PI members platform, you also have other content that I've worked with PI to create. Navigating the Transition of 3D Product Creation as a Designer is also available, so take a look at that. I tried not to overlap too much with this module and that webinar because I think there's so much to talk about. We can definitely have you guys take a look at that too. So next, we'll dive into Module 5, which is gonna be 3D in a fit and tech space.