Affinity design for Fashion (and some other questions)

[Jantje]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Jan, I am new to this forum, basically on behalf of my wife. My wife worked for years in fashion (design, production, etc.) and now after a break she wants to start again with a freelance career. She originally learned to draw, and make the technical flats (sorry, i am no expert in all the terminology)etc. by hand, but these days all is digital. It seems that Adobe Illustrator is the most common used tool for this by people working in fashion. By browsing the internet I discovered that many people now see Affinity Designer as an equal alternative to AI.

 

1. Are there people here who work in fashion and actually work with Affinity Designer, instead of Adobe Illustrator? Could you share your experiences?

2. Are there courses available specifically aimed for the fashion world to learn Affinity Designer?

3. is there a preference to work on an Ipad Pro (with pencil) or a laptop? What are the pro's and con's? (still undecided what the buy)

Apologies for all the questions, but hopefully someone can help us and point us in the right direction and make the right decisions :-). Thanks!

 

 

 

[v_kyr]

Welcome to the forum!

2 hours ago, Jantje said:

1. Are there people here who work in fashion and actually work with Affinity Designer, instead of Adobe Illustrator? Could you share your experiences?

I'm no expert on fashion stuff or a designer at all, but I believe there are people around in the fashion domain, which hopefully can tell you for sure here then in a much better manner than I probably can!

See for example:

• Brushes for technical drawings (fashion design)

• FASHION DESIGNING FOR BEGINNERS | AFFINITY DESIGNER iPad

• ... and so on ...

2 hours ago, Jantje said:

2. Are there courses available specifically aimed for the fashion world to learn Affinity Designer?

That's a very specific subdomain, meaning the fashion world, so I don't know for that niche concrete. - But other than that there are generally a bunch of online courses, tutorials etc. which do deal with all aspects of drawing and designing with Affinity Designer. There are online video courses, books, tutorials, assets ... and so on, you should check the net via the common search engines for those things you are specifically interested in here.

2 hours ago, Jantje said:

3. is there a preference to work on an Ipad Pro (with pencil) or a laptop? What are the pro's and con's? (still undecided what the buy)

This depends for sure on personal working preferences and the amount of data and drawings one has to deal and handle with. Meaning a bunch of design people work with iPads and it's pencil nowadays since it's got comfortable and easy for making quick turnarounds.

• Affinity Designer - Evening Jacket

On the other side the PC Desktop/Laptop app might do offer still more capabilities and possibilities here when coupled with a good Wacom (or PC screen) tablet and the like.

 

The above things are just my quick thoughts about that theme, some Pros in this regard (fashion domain etc.) can for sure tell you better and more concrete than I can!

[Jantje]

Thanks a lot for your reply and help! This is already a good start.

 

Hopefully some people in (fashion)design will see this question also and can help me with the specifics :-)

[gdenby]

Hi, Jante,

As far as "design" goes, Designer has much of the functionality of Illustrator. I just looked at a number of illustration of technical flats, and I didn't anything that would be particularly difficult using Designer. But it is a young program. There have been a number of posts about how to replicate patterns within areas, which works differently than what is available in Illustrator. There are also posts asking about dimensioning, which at this point must be done manually.

A larger consideration is "industrial." Some devices, such as those that might cut fabric, require specific file types. Designer supports quite a few different kinds of file formats, but it does not export .ai files, which are in a format Adobe owns. Also, some companies standardize on one program for all employees.

My preference continuous to be using a desktop w. a tablet. I had a MacBook Pro, but rarely used if for anything creative. I suppose I should have got a track ball for it. I have an iPad Pro, w. pencil. I enjoy using it, it is more responsive than the tablet I have, but there are some downsides for me. The newest model is a little lighter, but mine from last year seems rather heavy. I don't really like having it on my lap, or using it bent over my desk. 

[Jantje]

Thanks, that is very helpful!

[firstdefence]

I think it might be a good idea to compile a list of digital tools that would be required to create a flat and compare that with Affinity Designer. You can download a trial for Affinity Designer.

Don't discount other drawing/sketching apps like mediabang etc.