Illustration For Designers - Second Edition [Spiral-bound]

Kathryn Hagen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2000

"Illustration for Designers" is a fashion drawing textbook that has been developed by Kathryn Hagen, utilizing her twenty years of experience teaching fashion drawing at the prestigious Otis School of Fashion at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Already in its second edition, this up-to-date book contains over six hundred illustrations of various poses and garments, step-by-step drawing charts and proportion templates for flats, fashion heads and male and female figures. Fashion poses are analyzed anatomically and structurally, and include a variety of ethnicities, age groups and attitudes. An easy to read text provides important hints for rendering fabrics, developing effective compositions, understanding historical context and developing drawing methods that are both creative and efficient. In addition to the drawing information, the book also seeks to explain an easy approach to the design process. In the section "Designing and Illustrating a Group", the reader is taken through a ten step process that progresses from defining the customer to creating a master sheet to visualizing a final layout, and finally, to illustrating the group.

"Illustration for Designers" is suitable for use by a broad range of people, from the young teen who is interested in fashion drawing, to the fashion professional who wants to put their ideas on paper more effectively. It is being used as a textbook in a number of colleges and art high schools across the country. Teachers and students appreciate its user-friendly features that include a sturdy spiral binding [that allows the open book to lay flat], labeled tabs so different sections can be found quickly, and a detailed index for locating specific information efficiently. Educators who are interested in using "Illustration for Designers" in their classroom will also appreciate that it will be partially revised and updated every two years so that the information will remain current.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Just as clothing styles change drastically from decade to decade, so do the illustrations that depict them. During my nearly two decades of teaching fashion drawing, my talented students have transitioned from drawing big-shouldered amazons to the current waif with endless legs. Some determined souls have managed to work with more realistic figures and made them look modern and chic. In creating these more or less unreal figures, we seek to depict our own ideal of fashion beauty. Good drawing skills allow a designer to put his or her creative visions on paper in ways that can both inspire visually and be easily understood. Such abilities produce portfolios that open doors to better jobs and provide better communication with everyone from pattern makers to buyers, to salespeople and the press. Creative people are busy people. It is my hope that this text will help to engender better drawing techniques and facilitate the design process. Enjoy!

About the Author

Kathryn Hagen is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in Fashion Design. She also has her BFA and MFA in Painting and Sculpture from Otis College of Art and Design. She has overseen all drawing aspects of the fashion program at Otis, and thus helped to build the department into one of the top fashion programs in the world. Kathryn has balanced a professional life of teaching, free-lance illustration, and painting/ writing with her marraige and raising two sons. She is presently working on an illustrated book about avante-garde design.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 289 pages
• Publisher: Hagen Pub; 2nd Rev edition (September 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970430353
• ISBN-13: 978-0970430359
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,389,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best fashion illustration book ever!, July 16, 2001

By 

"ljazziel" (Daly City, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illustration For Designers - Second Edition (Spiral-bound)

I am currently a fashion design student and this was the best book that I have purchased. Once, I receieved the book, I quickly flipped through the pages and I was amazed at how much this books goes in depth about the fashion face, hands, legs, and feet for both women and men I like that this book breaks down the steps for drawing fashion illustration model. Each segement in the book describes each body part as its own entity, never overwhelming the reader with too much information. She even goes to the extent about talking about fashion poses and how clothing (pants/ skirts/ dresses/ coats/ suiting/ jackets/ etc.) should fit on the body due to the chosen fabrication. It is also fabulous that each part has it's own little tab...to easily find the topic you want to read up on.

This is a very thorough guide for anyone trying to develop their own fashion illustration. I love this book because it describes the different profiles of the body (side, 3/4, back, and frontal) in depth, whether it be the face, body, legs, arm, or feet. She explains it all, even different perspectives. The information that this books contains is simply amazing. For anyone that wants to gain more skill in fashion illustration or brush up their currents skills. I would recommend this book as a worthy investment.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible of Fashion Illustration, December 25, 2002

By 

"alyssajohnson3" (Marina Del Rey, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illustration For Designers - Second Edition (Spiral-bound)

This is the most useful textbook i have ever been required to use. My fashion illustration skills have continuously improved while using this book. This book is the most in-depth of its kind, explaining how to draw multifarious details in good fashion illustrations and includes wonderful step-by-step how-to images accompanied with text that are easy to understand and use as a learning tool. Another plus is that the book contains great templates (flats, head proportions, figure proportions, etc.). I recommend this book to anyone with a passion for illustration and design!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource for illustration, July 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Illustration For Designers - Second Edition (Spiral-bound)

I have to admit, my weakness is sketching/illustrating and I needed help. This book has already helped me observe things about drawing I never considered about shaping eyes, prespectives of a 3/4 head turn, the stance of a figure, etc... It features stylish croquis, how to develop a good pose, and even defines words typical in the fashion industry. The book is spiral bound, looks cheap at first, but it does make it easier to keep on a particular page or section. It's also pricy, but well worth every penny.