Fabric banner produced as a backdrop for a recent rally promoting President Bush's proposed tax cut. In many cases, software has been proprietary to the industry and there has been a limited choice of textile design applications. According to Patt Reid, director of CAD for New York City-based Krazy Kat Sportswear Inc., the technical skills learned by graphic designers in Photoshop and Illustrator are easily transferrable to the textile markets. This has opened up the doors for a number of people who have the interest in textiles. But textile designers have to educate themselves beyond the basics.
Designers have to gain advanced, fine-tuned skills.
And as with any product, textile designers need to know how things should be created and designed for specific applications. Textile designers have to have an overall understanding of the textile market. Each market is different and each fabric created is different. Designers have to know the technical specifications of each process and market to correctly design fabrics and materials for them. Textile designers have to know how their design will translate when it is created on a loom.