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Fashion Design Schools

Posted: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Narciso Rodriguez, Monique Lhullier, and Stella McCartney, just to name a few, are all young designers in demand today in the fashion industry. Fashion critics praised her works because of their clean lines and contemporary design. Education combined with talent form a great building block to a solid design career.

Most fashion designers, in an effort to expand what they know, try to attend art school since courses offered in a fashion design school are also regarded as applied art, similar to interior and graphic design. These design schools offer a curriculum especially created to stimulate the creative and unique sides of their students.

Fashion design schools do not only groom students to create a great piece of clothing but also teach them the basics, such as correct body measurements, pattern making, clothes making, and even sewing. Some design schools also offer for the following positions: fashion merchandiser, fabrications and trim buyer, fashion illustrator, pattern grader, and textile artist.

A. How to Find Quality Fashion Schools Online
There are many reasons why someone would want to attend a fashion design school. There are many career opportunities in the fashion industry. Although we often think of fashion designers as being big named designers with their names all over their products, there are many different designers who work to make the clothes that we wear. If you have a creative spirit and an eye for fashion, perhaps a career in the fashion industry is for you. Why not try an online fashion design school?

There are many ways to earn a degree online. More people are beginning to take advantage of the internet to achieve their dreams of attending college and pursuing career opportunities that they will enjoy, instead of being stuck at dead end jobs. The benefits of attending an online school are obvious. You can study and take tests right from your home. If you have young children at home, you can study and work during your own time, after the children are in bed or when they are down for their naps.

Once you have found an accredited online fashion school, you should decide what it is you want to do. Perhaps you will love fashion design. Do you like marketing and enjoy observing fashion trends? Perhaps you will choose a career as a fashion marketer. Are you interested in being a buyer for a store, the person who picks out the latest merchandise that the store will be carrying that season? Getting your degree online can be simple.

If you are a high energy person, you can earn your degree in much less time than it would take you at a regular designer school. If you need more time to study because of work deadlines or children and family demands, you can take that time and not worry about "flunking" the course. This is the beauty of online courses. You can learn and study at your own pace.
Eventually, when you have earned your degree in fashion design from an accredited online school, the skills that you learned while studying online will serve you well.

B. Quality of Young Fashion Designer
Fashion designing can be defined as a practical art that involves design of fashion wear, garments, and clothes in general along with other lifestyle accessories.
A good fashion designer is paid heftily and what better than to be getting paid high when young. A good fashion designer needs oodles of talent and creativity coupled with some solid education and opportunities.

Education regarding fashion designing along with talent can make a young designer earn a fortune alongside fame and a crowd of admirers. Many wannabe young fashion designers assume fashion designing to be a not-so-difficult profession to be in and a lot more young fashion designers neglect the need of a formal education in fashion designing. A fashion institute teaches a young fashion designer (aspirant) the basics of fashion- the clothing, the pattern making, sewing and so on.

Although, this isn't a must, it enhances a young fashion designer's knowledge on fashion which can be helpful in the future. Today, young fashion designers are many in numbers and have a lot of opportunities in the world of fashion. T-shirts, jeans, trousers, shirts, traditional wears, ethnic wears etc from around the world are experimented with to form unique attires unknown to the fashion world before.

Modern fashion designing has two categories, namely 'haute couture' and 'ready to wear'. A young fashion designer can be called a pro, if he/she really re-defines fashion!!!



How an Interior Designer Can Increase the Value of Your Property

Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2011

To increase saleability of a property it should correspond to the buyers expectations. An interior designer with experience for pre-sale refurbishment can achieve amazing results in the shortest time. The new bathroom and kitchen are leading the hit parade of the home improvements that would increase the value of the property... assuming it is done properly and preferably professionally.

Low quality DIY jobs completed without any knowledge of building regulations and current interior design trends would not increase the value of the property but can even decrease it. To avoid costly mistakes it pays off to commission a professional interior design specialist. Many property owners don't quite realise how much input of time and knowledge their project will take.

The skills of an interior designer are frequently used by the property developers. Although most experienced property developers would nearly instinctively know what type of interior finish would appeal to their market, they find that contracting an interior designer achieve better standards thus increasing the price of the property and consequently their profits. An interior designer would add a “wow factor” and a special home comfort touch to the interiors which would make them more marketable among style-conscious new buyers.

It is a common knowledge by now that attractive properties have higher rate of success with the prospective buyers. We get used to our interiors but very often the interior created would only appeal to the limited number of prospective buyers and therefore some changes are essential to achieve a sale. In the recent years such interior design service as home staging is growing up in popularity.

A professional interior designer would help to create a fresh appealing to the potential buyers look by de-cluttering the space, changing furniture layout and adding a few stylish accessories. There are many interior designers in London; look for their membership/affiliation to the professional bodies. So why not contract an interior designer and ... increase the value of your property?

A. A Misunderstood Profession: Interior Design
Define your career. If you are a doctor, you diagnose and treat peoples' ailments. If you are a hairdresser, you cut, colour, perm, and style hair. If you are a police officer, you uphold the law, investigate crimes, and in general protect the citizens of the district in which you work. If you have one of those careers, you are very lucky.

I am an interior designer -- I design interiors; but I can recommend a seamstress, carpet cleaning company, electrician... Then the dreaded question comes, "What do you mean you design interiors?"

Rather than trying to define interior design, I have taken to explaining the process of designing an interior. I analyze, ask questions, draw, review the budget, draw some more while asking more questions. Slowly, what started off as sketches develop into floor plans and other technical drawings. I help my clients make informed decisions regarding the use of space, materials, products, colour, lighting, layout, construction methods, other professionals... The drawings/plans then go to contractors and specialty contractors.

A contractor is selected, the contract signed and the work begins; I'll be there routinely while the work is in progress. Time schedules are reviewed frequently, problems that arise are handled in such a way that my clients may later know the solution but not the headache involved to understand and work out the problem. The work is wrapping up, only the finishing touches are left but I am already preparing a list of things that have to be finished, repaired or touched-up.

My clients call, happy with the finished space. Define my career. I am an interior designer. I am an analyst, an artist, an educator, an interrogator, a project manager, a site supervisor, a purchaser, a space planner, a specifier, a decorator, a technician, a draftsperson, a troubleshooter...

But can I help a client plan an outdoor project? Can I design a cabana or gazebo for a client's yard? Can I design custom furniture or lighting? Work with other professionals to provide technical drawings for things that do not fall into the scope of work of an interior designer? Work with clients and their real estate agent to help in the selection of the perfect home or commercial space to meet their needs? Handle the enlargement of a building? Work on new constructions as well as renovations? Can I help obtain renovation permits from the municipality? Design spaces for use by people with physical disabilities?...

B. Interior Design Jobs - Career Opportunities for Artistic People
I'd been chopping and changing my jobs and not following any career path specifically. This really got me thinking because all my life I have been interested in interior design jobs, but thought they were reserved for the elite few.

People are spending more time and money on improving their homes than ever before which means there are many more openings in interior design jobs than there have ever been. People are spending a lot of time in the home these days, and therefore it makes good sense that they want to make their living spaces as comfortable and as compatible with their ideas as possible.

There are so many contemporary and oldie-worldie styles to choose from though many prefer to come up with some unique designs of their own, with a little help from an interior designer of course. I genuinely have an artistic flair and have always been complemented on they way I've designed my living spaces, so I got to thinking, why not take a look into the world of interior design jobs? After all, I'm passionate about interior design so what could be better than making ones hobby into an occupation.

A little research has shown that to apply for the best interior design jobs I shall need to get educated in this field. Talent alone is not enough if you plan to work for others as many companies like to see some academic achievement along with an artistic aptitude. Despite the growing demand by home owners to have their interiors designed by a professional, there is still pretty stiff competition when applying for interior design jobs.

I've come to find out that there are interior design jobs within small specialist companies or large national groups. I have a deep respect and genuine interest in Feng Shui which is the Chinese art of correct placement. It's also hugely popular these days as folks are wanting to know more about the spiritual aspects to life. Feng Shui is said to increase income, improve relationships, and generally make your life better. There are many fascinating aspects to Feng Shui and they also make for great selling points when discussing interiors with potential clients.

Interior Design jobs are going to be my new focus.


Hot New Designers You Have to Know About

Posted: Saturday, May 21, 2011

The fashion world is a constantly changing place that serves as a revolving door for the hottest fashion designers. One great way to stay aware of the newest designers is to regularly look at the fashion magazines. Also, check out the cable channels that specialize in fashion and style to see interviews and tips from these top designers.

It seems the hottest trend in fashion today is clothing collections designed by actors. This was made the most popular by the Sean Jean fashion label designed by rap mogul Sean, “Diddy” Combs. The former No Doubt lead singer entered the fashion world and has received tremendous acclaim for her revolutionary “Love Angel Music Baby” line of clothing.

Urban clothing labels are especially popular these days, with Kimora Lee Simmons experiencing a great deal of success with her “Baby Phat” clothing line. The best time to see what the fashion designers have unveiled for the upcoming season’s collection is undoubtedly New York Fashion Week. Everyone from fashion royalty to Hollywood starlets are seen sitting front row at these legendary fashion shows, licking their chops at the tasty fashion offerings displayed. Most fashion magazines have excellent coverage of both the shows and the collections available at these shows, so check it out to stay on top of the fashion game.

A. New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week lasts for one week which started June 7, 1993 and is backed up by Olympus. This is held at Bryant Part in New York City which they set up as a big arena of fashion with huge tents. Each tent is cooled by air conditioning units which has a big runway inside, plus seats for guests, wonderful lights and sounds, as well as a back stage area.

These tents are the places where the famous designers get a chance to show off to the world their latest creations. They are the ones who personally arrange and decorate the tent depending on their own personal preference.

The usual guests to the New York Fashion Week are journalists, celebrities, socialites and fashion purchasers.

B. New York Fashion Week - Tempest In The Big Apple
For the many people involved in fashion, you may be wondering exactly what is New York fashion week? Fashion week is frequently known as Olympus fashion week due to the fact that its current sponsor is Olympus; however in recent years past its was also known as Mercedes Benz fashion week because they were the sponsors at that time.

Each separate gigantic tent has air conditioning and is separated into several areas. Each individual venue is separated into roughly twelve thousand square feet and has an integrated runway, accompanying guest seating, lighting sound, as well as area for back stage activities.

New York fashion week happens two times a year.
Designs for the forthcoming fall season are featured at the fashion week show which occurs the preceding February. Designs for the approaching spring are featured in the September fashion show.

So Your Thinking About Going to Fashion Week?
The typical attendees at fashion week are celebrities, journalists, fashion purchasers, and social types. Because this event is by invitation only, journalists who wish to go must seek accreditation prior to the event.

It is clear, you will very likely notice fashion models in addition to numerous well known designers. Although comfort does play a part, the primary goal of dressing up for fashion week is to establish a unique wardrobe that will give expression to your own individual sense of fashion. If your an individual who has a passion for design fashions, then a trip to fashion week is the event for you.



The Art of Logo Graphic Design

Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Logo graphic design is an art anyone can learn. The best place to start is by studying the form and function of logos you see everyday, especially those pertaining to the industry you want to design for. If you are wanting to design your own logo for your construction business, you will want to spend some time studying the logos of other companies in the construction industry. Never copy their logos, but it is a great source for research.

Logos need to be simple. The more busy a logo is, the more negative impression it tends to leave on the viewer. Symbolism can play an important role in coming up with ideas for a logo design. Logo graphic design is a process. You will spend a lot of time researching, drawing, sketching, throwing ideas away, pulling your hair out, and sighing. You have found that mark, now take the extra time to perfect it.

First, always start designing your logo in black and white. Don't forget about the negative space.

A. Logos in Various Forms and Styles
Logos for a company gives a corporate identity and public image to it. Based on your business type and the audience that you deal with, it influences the shapes and size of the company logo. If you take professional help from logo designers, they can guide you and design the apt logo for your organization.

1) Symbol Logo- As the word suggests, symbol logo is devoid of letters and words, it contains only images, shapes and symbols. You must be thinking for what type of companies or situations would profit more from symbol logos. When you had used combination logo for quite sometime and want to exceed your brand recognition in the market, the option of symbol logo is a better choice. If you have time and energy to make the symbol logo trademark for your company, make it legalize by completing legal formalities.

2) Text Logo - Text logo contains mainly your company's name, here graphical elements can also be inserted. Borders, lines, boxes, letters, etc can be used in logo designing for better interaction. The use of graphic element should not dominate this type of logos. In case your business has a unique name, using it in text logo gives unforgettable one.
Here text logo accomplishes the goal of such companies. Text logos should have trademark protection which would make it unique and outstanding.

3) Combination Logo- This type of logo contains both graphic image and business name. Combination logo helps in creating strong brand recognition and is visually very strong.
The symbol can speak to the services that the company offers, while the company name increases the company recognition.
Logos are essential part of any company and its identity.

B. Graphic Design Logos Can Be Very Affordable For Small Business
Most businesses use corporate logos to identity their brands. With a properly designed emblem, consumers will instantly recognize the brand behind the symbol. Ensuring you have a quality symbol is a vital part of your company's overall health.

The way a company used to get a quality logo was by spending thousands of dollars to have a graphic firm design a unique emblem for their business. There are many different online companies that will create an emblem for your business for a very affordable price. These companies have the designers that are able to create a completely unique representation of your company.

Once the decision is made, the original design is revised and you get a unique symbol designed just for your business. Working on your design is a certain number of designers, generally dependent on which package you choose. The method of communication available throughout the design process is dependent on what each firm offers. Investigate to see what is available online in order to have a logo designed for you.


Do It Yourself…! Or Hire A Professional Designer

Posted: Friday, May 13, 2011

Do It Yourself…!
Knowledge is Power I highly recommend reading and learning about graphic/web design. It's a good idea in a long-term sense whether you do design projects yourself now or hire in the future. You will be able to communicate more effectively to your graphic professionals when your business is ready to outsource. By learning design techniques, it will help you organize how to present your image to your target market. The most important lesson to remember is if you start your design project, don't forget about Quality. Read books. Take classes. Learn the software.

Hiring a Professional
How much time do you have? Designing your marketing materials (website, business card, stationary, ezine, postcards, etc.) is not just about learning about the graphic design software and, in the case of web design... learning HTML. Your designer will know how to harness color theory and how to organize your content & information to readable chunks, allow your viewers to focus on the important benefits, evoke a certain feeling or thought, and add supporting graphics that clearly and effectively communicate your message.

Don't you want to concentrate on business? When you are a small business, you probably play the role of sales, customer service, accounting and need to concentrate on strategies to build business. You do care about quality, right?

A. Corporate Branding and Professional Logo Design
Branding tools like logo designs, business cards etc goes a long way in creating your corporate image. Any marketing communication material should ideally have your corporate logo on it, which would give more credibility for your business as well as help your client to perceive your business as a professional enterprise.

Logo design is an absolutely indispensable part of corporate branding strategy and should always be assigned to professional logo designers. A professional logo designer is not just a graphic designer but he should also have ideas about branding and positioning of business. Depending on your requirements he will create a logo that would successfully exude the nature and attitude of your business. While working on any of our logo design orders we ( Custom Logo Design )always try to capture as much as information possible, from the client.

Basically there are 4 types of logos, glyph, alpha-glyph, alphanumeric or a combination of any of these. A professional logo designer or a specialist logo design firm can definitely help you with decision making in this aspect.

Types of Logos
Glyph: This includes symbols, icons, pictures etc that represents your company. These are most widely used for secondary communication rather than business logos, except for few like, Apple. Glyphs though used rarely as logos, if created properly by talented logo designers can be extremely sophisticated and create a deep impact as a corporate identity.

Alpha-Glyph: An alpha-glyph logo uses a letter from the name of the company to graphically convey the nature of the business. Ideal examples of this type of logos can be seen with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), IBM, Honda, Motorola, and Oklahoma State University. Choice of font, color, letter spacing etc can make big difference in creating an impressive corporate logo.

Combination Logos: This is the most common type of logos and is found everywhere. Most of these are actually glyph or alpha-glyph with an alphanumeric company name. Some good examples of combination logos are UPS, Red Hat Linux and Intel.

Placing your corporate logo on all marketing collaterals including business cards, brochures, flyers etc helps you to mark those collaterals as your company property and establish your corporate identity.

Logos and marketing materials are integral part of a company’s brand establishment strategy. A logo done by an amateur can ruin the credibility of your business in no time but when done by a professional logo designer can definitely add value to your business. A professional logo designer can help you to decide which type of logo is best suited for your business and can make people perceive your company as a huge corporate house with much credibility even when it might be just an one man shop.

It’s the image of the company that matters, if you intend to portray a positive and impressive image of your company go for a professional logo design today.

B. How Much Is A Great Business Logo Really Worth?
A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. If a logo is the company spokesman, how much is it really
worth?

Cheap logo designs are all over the Internet - logo designs under $150!, $99 logo designs, $75 logo designs, $49 logo designs and even lower! You will easily find a wide range of prices for logo design on the Internet. Be careful of cheap logo design offers, some designers may be using clip art. A logo design that includes a royalty free piece of clip art cannot be copyrighted. That same piece of clip art could be used on dozens of other logo designs. A designers portfolio should be displayed and there should be a wide variety of logo samples.

Some logo designers charge one flat fee for a logo with no questions asked. Can you imagine Coca-Cola purchasing a logo design for $99? All designs are not equal. Some logo designers charge additional costs for extra colors, extra modifications and extra preliminary designs. How much is a logo design really worth? A logo design is more valuable to a company than a single spot illustration.

A logo has more value than just the hours spent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity. Professional graphic design rates average anywhere from $30 to $75 per hour. If you see a logo design priced at $125 and that designer charges $50 per hour for design work, do you assume that they spent 2.5 hours on your logo? That price would include the time spent to contact you, the research done on your company and competition, the preliminary ideas, the changes, the finalizing of the logo, the file prep for each different format, sending the logo, billing and allowing you to have all rights to the design. So how much time was actually spent creating your logo?

Many professional graphic designers would be hard pressed to create a top notch illustration for under $150 let alone a creative, well designed logo. So beware of logos priced under $150, you may get what you pay for.

There's even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designers base their logo rates on several of these factors:
Logo Modifications - You could get charged for each time you want a change or modification to your logo. If a logo designer asks the right questions, does the research and stays in close communication with the client there should be no need for major changes during the creation of a logo design. Be a good communicator and explain to the logo designer exactly what you want your logo to be saying about your business. Extra Colors - Printers charge more for extra colors. If a logo designer charges more for a two color logo than they do for a three color logo, get a detailed explanation as to why.

A logo designer should be able to decide for you the correct amount of preliminary designs it will require to create your perfect logo. An example would be asking for a yellow duck logo
design and changing your mind to a red dog design once the logos are presented to you.

Adding an identity program to your logo is a legitimate cost. Designing the business card, letterhead and envelope layouts are normally a higher priced package. You should receive camera ready files for each design.

There is a standard reference for pricing graphic design and corporate identity projects. Any logo designer can purchase the book. A professional graphic designer would have a tough time supporting a family and a studio designing all of their logos below $200.

I'm not writing this to give exact prices for a logo design because each logo designers circumstances are different. The standard logo design rates are based on two major components,
company size and application or distribution size. The majority of logo designs created over the Internet are created for small companies and individuals with limited application and distribution uses. Fortune 500 companies normally pay much higher logo design rates and use advertising agencies.

My conclusion is that the value of a logo should be based on a few important criteria:
1. Experience of the logo designer
2. Size & budget of the company using the logo
3. Scope and usage of the logo
4. Difficulty of the design

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design. What's included with your logo? You will then have to pay another graphic designer or printer to create the correct files. Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask your logo designer what file types are included in their price.

The most common file types needed are AI (Illustrator) and EPS for most professional print jobs. These are vector format files. These files should be in a CMYK color format. Be aware that not all colors translate well on the Internet, especially GIF files. Ask if the logo designer used web safe colors. You should receive crisp 72 dpi files for the Internet. Be sure and ask your logo designer about your logo colors. You will need this information each time your logo is printed. Ask your designer how long they keep your logo on file in case you lose your
versions later down the road.

You should also receive all rights (copyrights) to your logo. How long have they designed logos? In closing let me say that the information above is a personal opinion and is taken from years of searching logo design web sites and reading books on graphic design. An advertising agency handles logo design on a larger scale and incorporates an entire corporate identity service. Their logo design rates are many times higher than a graphic designers.



Why You Should Be An Interior Designer

Posted: Monday, May 9, 2011

In the DIY period, people were happy to spend their spare time on home-improvements and they enjoyed showing off their efforts to all their visitors. Furthermore, in most families, adults are bringing home larger disposable incomes than ever before and today they prefer to employ an Interior Designer, rather than spend hours in trying to do it alone. The plethora of glossy magazines that are now available each month have thousands of pages with colourful photographs of beautiful homes, all with rooms designed by an expert in Interior Design. These magazines create the desire in people to have such a room in their own home.

That burgeoning desire for a beautiful home can only be fulfilled by an Interior Designer. Today, it is a completely different story, because the tradesman now accepts that a home designed by an Interior Designer is far superior to anything they can provide. Furthermore, the tradesman often earns a far bigger profit when completing work for an Interior Designer compared to when they work directly for the customer.

This is because the Interior Designer will quote for the complete job: from basic design to provision of all the materials and completing the actual conversion. Tradesmen in the home-improvement industry now spend considerable time and effort in developing a good relationship with Interior Designers, because today they can provide an increasing part of their annual income. This is a two-way connection, because the Interior Designer often receives valuable enquiries for design work from their pool of tradesmen.

In addition, when the tradesman completes their work to a high standard, the Interior Designer is likely to benefit in the future from referrals and additional work from their clients.
However, working on designs for homes is only touching the surface of the income stream of a good Interior Designer. It is always easier to spend ‘other people’s money’ and the wise Interior Designer will make sure they enjoy a large slice of this business income stream. It is far larger and much more lucrative than the domestic sector where people are spending their own money.

The retail industry is always looking for ways to attract customers, and the Interior Design of their store is becoming a vital factor in establishing their brand. Commercial offices need to have ambient Interior Design if they are to attract and keep the best people as employees, and they are willing to spend vast amounts of money to achieve that objective.

There is also a certain amount of fame and publicity awarded the successful Interior Designer. The avaricious glossy magazine market is continually on the lookout for interesting stories to photograph and publish. The clever Interior Designer will nurture relationships with editors and journalists and feed them stories of work they have done that may be of interest to magazine readers. There are opportunities for Interior Design everywhere you look.

People worldwide spend more than 90% of their life indoors and they need the right high quality environment, which is created by an Interior Design professional. As an Interior Designer, you can contribute to the health, safety, and welfare of people living in homes as well as those working in offices, hotels, restaurants, schools, stores, and other business places. You can be self-employed, you can work for an Interior Design company, or architectural offices, retail groups, or other commercial establishments can employ you.

Some newspapers and magazines are willing to pay an Interior Designer a handsome fee for a complete redesign of a home, which they then offer as a prize in a competition that will increase their readership. The show-homes on display at new housing developments require excellent Interior Design in order to encourage visitors to become purchasers.

Shopping malls and department stores can provide space for you to display photographs of your work, distribute colour brochures and flyers, and collect names of prospective clients for your Interior Design services. You can learn all the secrets of Interior Design by taking a Course.

A. Is Home Study Interior Design Right For You
For those that wish to study interior design, home study interior design is becoming increasingly more popular. You must pass a qualifying exam in order to call yourself an Interior Designer.
Find out whether home study interior design is available. A nonprofit accrediting body develops guidelines and standards that the interior design schools must maintain. If the school does not meet the guidelines then the school is not accredited. The nonprofit agency is called the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. Contact Interior Design firms and ask them what schools they recommend.

The prospective student should research the various programs offered to get a better idea of exactly what program best fits their needs. Find out if financing available for the student. Can the student learn the proper techniques through home study interior design?

Try to find out whether students who take home study interior design actually get the same type of jobs as students who physically attend school. Do you have the workspace and time allotted to take on something as challenging as interior design home study?

B. Becoming a Successful Interior Design Professional
If you have recently begun a career in interior design, you should be very excited to be entering such an exciting field. You'll find that you'll earn a lucrative income but the rates of pay can vary significantly. By being an assistant interior designer, you can expect to earn as much as $20 per hour with the right design firm. Once you become a certified interior designer, your income will increase to $50,000 or more. There is a great deal of competition in the field but you will begin to land clients and the more references you provide, the easier contracting new clients becomes.

Sometimes interior design clients feel that a bid that is too low is a sign of poor work. One way to win the client is to offer a good bid with the incentive that you will be glad to accept
the job at slightly lower than the lowest bid they can obtain in writing. Marketing your services is a key to obtaining clients. First, you must have business cards, a professional portfolio that contains samples of your work available.

You can then offer your services through a kiosk at your local mall or find a furniture shop interesting in showcasing your services as an incentive to customers to purchase. You'll need to obtain a business number and registration so that you can conduct business. Look in the telephone book under Government Listing or call your local accounting firm. Trade shows are another means of marketing affordably.

Also, a portfolio will be valuable tool. Having references will show that your work is professional and satisfactory. You can be a success in interior design!



Fashioning A Fashion Career

Posted: Thursday, May 5, 2011

Most people conceive of a career in fashion designing as merely drinking cocktails, dressing celebrities up and attending chi-chi affairs. But fashion designing is more than that. Fashion is not just about clothes design either; designers pursue other interests like shoes, accessories, or bag designs. Excited about pursuing a fashion designing career? In setting up a fashion design business, a budding designer needs to know the basics.

Knowledge and experience in designing, drawing, sketching, and CAD applications are necessary to facilitate design illustrations. Certification from design schools and workshops give additional points for a budding designer but are not really necessary.

Possessing the above-mentioned skills does not guarantee fashion designing success. As a starting fashion designer, you must identify the type of design you are interested in pursuing. Are you going to concentrate on women, teens, kids, men, or be a general designer? Some starting designers opt to concentrate on a special market by being a formal wear designer or a bridal gown designer. Starting design businesses opt to open their own store and hire their own pattern-makers, sewers, and staff.

Custom and per-order designing are the usual pursuits of budding designers. Fashion business experts recommend the latter two to most starting fashion design business as these require less capital and workforce.

To jumpstart a fashion design career quickly, applying as an employee in a fashion house is another option. Positions for entry-level applicants are usually pattern makers, sample maker, and sketcher. Fashion house managers agree that they tend to look for individuals with great style and flair for fashion.

A. Careers in Fashion Merchandising
Fashion merchandisers combine the skills of advertising, retail knowledge, marketing and the creativity of a fashion designer. If you want a career in fashion merchandising you must have good self confidence, good judgment and good resourcefulness. Having a good knowledge of the target fashion markets is also very important so experience and a genuine interest in the fashion market is a must. Searching for careers in fashion merchandising can be quite a hard job as this is a very competitive industry where only the top survive.

To your advantage though this is a rapidly growing market which is looking for advertising, marketing, and sales managers. Qualifying in fashion merchandising means you can go for a career in any of the following roles: Product Developer, Importing / Exporting Agent, Fashion Buyer, Fashion Merchandiser, Retailer, Fashion Event Planner, Store Manager or Fashion Advertising Agent. For people just starting their career, many companies offer training programs while smaller firms offer a wide variety of entry-level positions.

These positions include buyer's assistant, department manager assistant and marketing assistant. Responsibilities increase with hard work and an interest in the job. For those people who demonstrate the necessary talents, upward mobility is relatively easy.

B. Careers in the Fashion Industry
Interest in the fashion industry is on the rise, and so are the opportunities – and the competition. It is relatively easy to earn a degree in fashion design, merchandising, or fashion marketing. Each of these segments focuses on a different aspect of the fashion industry. As the fashion industry continues to grow, there is an increased need for educated and specialized staff in the fashion world. The three main opportunities with a fashion degree are fashion design, fashion marketing and fashion merchandising.

Becoming a fashion designer is a dream for many people. Fashion Marketing involves the advertising, design and business side of the fashion business. A fashion marketer has to have a comprehensive knowledge of the fashion industry to be able to identify what will be stylish and appealing to their target markets. Fashion marketing connects the designers to the public by tracking consumer-buying habits. Fashion Merchandising and marketing work hand in hand.

Fashion merchandisers are responsible for buying the clothes and presenting them to stores. One of the largest parts of fashion merchandising is creating displays to help consumers want to buy the products. Fashion marketing is basically the selecting of clothing lines and choosing how the will be presented to the market.

Fashion is a career that combines business aptitude and an artistic eye.


Fashion Schools

Posted: Sunday, May 1, 2011

Looking for an interesting career in the fashion industry? Offering a diverse education; fashion schools provide comprehensive coursework that maintains up-to-date fashion and design training programs, which often include the latest accessories, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, cosmetics, and relevant fashion equipment.

Aside from basic instruction in fabrics and textiles, common fashion school curriculums introduce and educate students about budgeting; CAD (Computer Aided Design); clothing production (including learning how to sew and sewing machines); fashion history; merchandising, retail management and wardrobe ensemble.

Successful candidates who have completed and earned a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Fashion Design or Fashion Merchandising may enter lucrative fashion careers such as buyers; costumers; cosmetic artists; cutters; designers; drapers; fashion models; hairstylists; photographers; and merchandisers.

A. Guide to Choosing A Fashion Design School
A successful future in the fashion design industry depends on right choice of school to attend. When choosing a fashion design school, consider the following factors. Look into the nature of the school. Is it solely a fashion design school or does it offer other courses. Is this school well-known for its emphasis on fashion design?

Fashion design schools are few and far between. Also, look into whether the school participates in any fashion design competition or has accomplished anything of reknown in the industry. Different schools have different strengths, find a school that plays to your strengths and has specialization in the field of your choice.

For example, you might choose a very well-know fashion design school only to find out that they specialize in childrens’ clothing, while the field of your choice is adult formal wear. Make sure you know what field the school you are scouting focuses on.

Alumni and Job Placements
If you see that those that had gone through this school before you received proper training and are successful in their field, that is an indication of a good school. Most of these reputable schools have numerous connections in the graphic arts industry. They usually offer job placement services. You may want to consider this when choosing a school.

Curriculum
You may want to compare the curricula of different schools to see which offers the best form of education. It would also be wise to check the quality of the teaching staff at that school. Having established artists who teach at a fashion design school is also an indication of a good training program.

Student to Teacher Ratio
Ask yourself: how big are the classes and how many teachers and classes are available at this school before you choose it.

Accreditation
Accreditation means the school has passed a certain standards of educational quality. Fashion design schools must be accredited to prove their level of competence. Check with the State Postsecondary School Licensing Bureau to see if the college you are investigating is accredited.

Cost
Unfortunately, it also pays to be practical in your choice of fashion design school.

Scholarships
You might want to consider whether the design school you are looking at offers any scholarships. Some schools offer scholarships based on academic performance. Some offer them based on fashion design competitions they hold regularly. Your choice of school is an investment that will last you a lifetime. When you are comfortable with your choice of fashion design schools, you can now chart your path towards a successful career.

B. Fashioning A Fashion Career
Most people conceive of a career in fashion designing as merely drinking cocktails, dressing celebrities up and attending chi-chi affairs. But fashion designing is more than that. Fashion is not just about clothes design either; designers pursue other interests like shoes, accessories, or bag designs. Excited about pursuing a fashion designing career? In setting up a fashion design business, a budding designer needs to know the basics. Knowledge and experience in designing, drawing, sketching, and CAD applications are necessary to facilitate design illustrations. Certification from design schools and workshops give additional points for a budding designer but are not really necessary.

Possessing the above-mentioned skills does not guarantee fashion designing success. As a starting fashion designer, you must identify the type of design you are interested in pursuing. Are you going to concentrate on women, teens, kids, men, or be a general designer? Some starting designers opt to concentrate on a special market by being a formal wear designer or a bridal gown designer. Starting design businesses opt to open their own store and hire their own pattern-makers, sewers, and staff. Custom and per-order designing are the usual pursuits of budding designers. Fashion business experts recommend the latter two to most starting fashion design business as these require less capital and workforce.

To jumpstart a fashion design career quickly, applying as an employee in a fashion house is another option. Positions for entry-level applicants are usually pattern makers, sample maker, and sketcher. Fashion house managers agree that they tend to look for individuals with great style and flair for fashion.


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