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Learn to draw fashion with Adobe Illustrator CC - Beginners

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Based on 1,844 ratings
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Jo Hughes

Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to draw fashion flats. Develop your skills to enable you to produce creative, accurate product designs quickly and to standards required for retail and manufacturing.

In this beginners level course, you will learn all the core tools and features that make up the basic fashion drawing toolbox.

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Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to draw fashion flats. Develop your skills to enable you to produce creative, accurate product designs quickly and to standards required for retail and manufacturing.

In this beginners level course, you will learn all the core tools and features that make up the basic fashion drawing toolbox.

  • For beginners that have not used Adobe Illustrator before
  • Overview of Illustrator terminology
  • Overview of design and product development processes used in industry and how Illustrator fits into the design workflow
  • Familiarise yourself with the Illustrator interface
  • Learn the core tools and features needed to produce basic fashion drawings
  • Garment drawing workshops

Learn essential skills required by the fashion industry

Having spent over a decade implementing and training software technologies into fashion brands and retailers across the globe, I spent a lot of time working with the designers. Over the years there seemed to be a common theme in the design room - lots of designers were using Illustrator well but many either couldn't use it at all or couldn't use it very well. They also didn't adhere to any drawing standards or best practises so had problems such as not being able to easily edit each other's drawings, create colourways quickly or create reusable components properly, making them inefficient.

Illustrator 4 Fashion training has been specifically tailored for fashion, with the needs of the industry in mind. The training can be taken by company design employees, freelance designers, fashion design students and anyone else looking to learn or improve their fashion drawing with Adobe Illustrator.

Course Overview

Most Adobe Illustrator manuals and online training courses are industry generic with many modules not relevant to fashion drawing. It can be hard to know which features to learn and how to develop techniques to draw professional fashion designs. Illustrator 4 Fashion only teaches you the features and techniques relevant to drawing fashion flats, illustrations and garment components.

The Illustrator 4 Fashion course is split into 3 levels; beginner, intermediate and advanced. In this level 1 beginners course, aimed at users with no previous Illustrator knowledge, we start off by introducing you to the Illustrator terminology and interface. You'll also gain an understanding of the fashion product development process used in industry and how Adobe Illustrator is used as part of this. Following this we will then go through in simple individual tutorials all the functional tools you need to know how to use to get you started with fashion drawing. The final part of the course features a series of garment drawing workshops where we will put together all the skills you have acquired into practise.

Every lecture includes supporting Illustrator work files so that students can follow the lecture exactly.

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What's inside

Syllabus

Students are given an overview of the course and will understand at a high level the design and product development workflow and where Adobe Illustrator is used in the process.
Read more

This lecture introduces you to the course including:

  • Course structure
  • Benefits of taking the course
  • Equipment needed to take the course
  • Key Adobe Illustrator terminology

In this lecture you will get an overview of the critical steps that a style will go through from it's conception to the point of production and where Adobe Illustrator is used to support this process.

In this lecture you are introduced to the Illustrator layout and where you can find the tools, panels and controls that help you create and modify your artwork.

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Creating and saving documents

  • Creating and managing artboards

  • Using templates

  • Grids, guides and rulers

UPDATE May 2020: Please see the resources section for an updated Dummy file - this new an improved version has male, female, child and toddler dummy forms. Note: The female form is the one used throughout the tutorials at this time.

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Scroll bar
  • Hand tool
  • Navigator panel
  • Zoom tool
  • Creating your custom workspace
  • Preferences

This lecture lists the core tools that make up the fashion drawing toolbox and provides an overview of what each one does.

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Rectangle tool
  • Rounded rectangle tool
  • Elipse tool
  • Polygon tool
  • Live corners
  • Drawing straight lines

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Selecting objects
  • Moving objects
  • Rotating objects
  • Resizing objects
  • Copying and duplicating objects
  • Transform each function
  • Scaling objects
  • Uniform and non-uniform scale
  • Rotating objects
  • Reflecting objects

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Drawing line segments and paths
  • Drawing straight and curved paths
  • Open versus closed paths
  • Modifying anchor points
  • Anchor point tool

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Selecting and modifying path segments
  • Selecting and modifying anchor points
  • Adjusting live corners

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Drawing paths with the pencil tool
  • Smooth tool
  • Easing open paths
  • Erasing closed paths
  • Erasing text objects
  • Scissor tool
  • Knife tool

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Creating type
  • Type controls
  • Manipulating type
  • Touch type tool
  • Area type tool
  • Type on a path tool
  • Vertical type tool

In this lecture we start looking at how to work with colour within Illustrator including:

  • Stroke colour
  • Fill colour
  • Eyedropper tool

In this lecture we talk about what panels are and where to find them.

  • Using swatches to change fill and stroke colour of objects
  • Creating swatches
  • Colour groups
  • Swatch libraries
  • Applying and creating gradients
  • Creating/saving gradient swatches
  • Gradient tool

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Weight
  • Caps and corners
  • Dashed lines
  • Arrowsheads
  • Profiles

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • What are layers?
  • Creating layers
  • Layer ordering
  • Hiding and locking layers
  • Sub layers and groups
  • Isolation mode
  • Deleting layers

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Align objects
  • Distribute objects

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Editing type
  • Kerning
  • Leading
  • Tracking
  • Horizontal/vertical scale
  • Setting the baseline
  • Character rotation

Topics covered in this lecture are:

  • Zig zag effect
  • Warp effect

In this lecture you are introduced to the garments you will be drawing in the workshop section.

UPDATE May 2020: Please see the resources section for an updated Dummy file (Dummy Family.ai) - this new an improved version has male, female, child and toddler dummy forms. Note: The female form is the one used throughout the tutorials at this time.

Techniques and functions:

  • Pen tool
  • Modify anchor points and bezier curves
  • Reflect tool
  • Average and join anchor points
  • Adding layers
  • Naming layers
  • Locking layers
  • Dashed stroke (topstitching)

Techniques and functions:

  • Pen tool
  • Modify anchor points and bezier curves
  • Reflect tool
  • Average and join anchor points
  • Adding layers
  • Naming layers
  • Locking layers
  • Dashed stroke (topstitching)
  • Eyedropper tool (topstitching)
  • Outline stroke (ribbing)
  • Creating the back view
  • Add colour swatch
  • Change stroke colour

Techniques and functions:

  • Pen tool
  • Modify anchor points and bezier curves
  • Average and join anchor points
  • Reflect tool
  • Convert anchor points
  • Adding layers
  • Naming layers
  • Locking layers
  • Profiles
  • Dashed stroke (topstitching)

Techniques and functions:

  • Pen tool
  • Modify anchor points and bezier curves
  • Reflect tool
  • Average and join anchor points
  • Pencil tool (modify lines)
  • Adding layers
  • Naming layers
  • Locking layers
  • Rotate
  • Reflect
  • Scissor tool
  • Profiles
  • Scale tool
  • Align and distribute
  • Outline stroke/dashed stroke (topstitching)
  • Creating the back view
  • Eraser tool

...continued from Shirt - Part 1

...continued from Shirt - Part 2

Techniques and functions:

  • Pen tool
  • Modify anchor points and bezier curves
  • Reflect tool
  • Average and join anchor points
  • Pencil tool (modify lines)
  • Adding layers
  • Naming layers
  • Locking layers
  • Outline stroke/dashed stroke (topstitching)
  • Profiles
  • Type on a path (branded button)
  • Duplicate
  • Scissor tool
  • Zig zag effect (bartacks)
  • Warp effect (rounded flap pocket)
  • Scale tool
  • Add colour swatch
  • Gradients
  • Change stitching colour
  • Creating the back view

...continued from Jeans - Part 1

...continued from Jeans - Part 2

https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-to-draw-fashion-with-adobe-illustrator-cc-intermediate/?referralCode=2A6F2446B5CDFF63FC19

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Focuses on the specific tools and techniques needed for fashion drawing, which is more efficient than generic Illustrator courses
Starts with an overview of Illustrator terminology and the interface, which builds a strong foundation for new users
Provides insight into the fashion product development process and how Illustrator fits into the industry workflow
Includes garment drawing workshops to practice acquired skills, which reinforces learning through hands-on experience
Uses Adobe Illustrator CC, which is an industry-standard tool for creating fashion flats and technical drawings
Includes supporting Illustrator work files for each lecture, which allows students to follow along and replicate the techniques

Save this course

Create your own learning path. Save this course to your list so you can find it easily later.
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Reviews summary

Beginner fashion drawing in illustrator

According to students, this course is an excellent starting point for learning to draw fashion flats using Adobe Illustrator CC. Many praise its suitability for absolute beginners, highlighting the instructor's clear, step-by-step approach and the course's specific focus on fashion industry needs. Learners particularly value the practical garment drawing workshops, which help solidify skills. While the pace is largely appreciated by newcomers, a few learners with some prior software experience noted it could be slow at times. The provision of helpful resources and apparent instructor updates are also seen as positive aspects.
Includes work files and instructor updates.
"Having the work files available for each lecture was extremely helpful for following along."
"Appreciate the instructor updating materials, like the dummy files. Shows they maintain the course."
"The resources section added value to the video lectures."
Instructor explains concepts clearly and methodically.
"The instructor's explanations are very clear and easy to follow, even for complex tools."
"I liked the pace; it wasn't rushed and allowed me to really grasp each concept before moving on."
"Each lecture builds nicely on the previous one, making the learning curve smooth."
Hands-on practice drawing different garments.
"The garment drawing workshops at the end were invaluable for putting all the tools together into practice."
"Drawing the t-shirt, jeans, and shirt step-by-step helped solidify everything I learned."
"Getting to draw actual flats was the best part of the course; it made it feel real."
Tailored specifically for fashion drawing needs.
"Unlike generic Illustrator tutorials, this course focuses only on the tools and techniques relevant to fashion design."
"The examples and exercises are all fashion-related, which makes it much easier to apply what I learn directly."
"Appreciated that it skipped irrelevant features and got straight to what designers need."
Provides a solid foundation from scratch.
"This course is exactly what I needed as a complete beginner to Illustrator and fashion flats. The instructor explains everything step-by-step."
"Never touched Illustrator before, but now I feel confident drawing basic garments. It really starts from the very beginning."
"Highly recommend for anyone with zero previous software knowledge looking to get into fashion design drawing."
May move too slowly for learners with some prior knowledge.
"While great for absolute beginners, I found myself skipping some parts as the pace was quite slow sometimes."
"If you've ever used any Adobe software before, the initial sections might feel a bit drawn out."
"Would recommend this only if you truly have zero experience. Otherwise, you might get impatient."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Learn to draw fashion with Adobe Illustrator CC - Beginners with these activities:
Review Basic Design Principles
Reinforce fundamental design principles to better understand the aesthetic considerations in fashion design and how Illustrator can be used to achieve them.
Browse courses on Design Principles
Show steps
  • Read articles or watch videos on design principles.
  • Identify examples of these principles in fashion designs.
  • Practice applying these principles in simple sketches.
Read 'Drawing for Fashion Design'
Improve your understanding of fashion illustration principles to enhance your digital flat designs.
View New Fashion Figure Templates - Expanded edition on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the book, focusing on sketching and rendering.
  • Practice the techniques in your sketchbook.
  • Apply these skills to your Illustrator designs.
Read 'Fashion Design: The Complete Guide'
Gain a broader understanding of the fashion design process and how Illustrator fits into the overall workflow.
View Fashion Design: The Complete Guide on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the book, focusing on design process chapters.
  • Take notes on key concepts and techniques.
  • Relate the book's content to the Illustrator course.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Pen Tool Mastery Exercises
Improve proficiency with the Pen tool, a core skill for creating accurate and editable fashion flats in Illustrator.
Show steps
  • Trace existing fashion flat images using the Pen tool.
  • Practice creating smooth curves and sharp corners.
  • Experiment with different Pen tool settings.
Create a Fashion Flat Template Library
Develop a library of reusable fashion flat templates in Illustrator to streamline your design process and improve efficiency.
Show steps
  • Identify common garment types and components.
  • Create detailed Illustrator templates for each item.
  • Organize your templates for easy access and reuse.
Design a Mini Fashion Collection
Apply learned Illustrator skills to design a small fashion collection, solidifying understanding and fostering creative expression.
Show steps
  • Choose a theme or concept for your collection.
  • Sketch initial designs and refine them in Illustrator.
  • Create colorways and variations for each garment.
  • Present your collection in a digital format.
Explore Advanced Illustrator Techniques
Expand your Illustrator skillset by exploring advanced techniques beyond the basics covered in the course.
Show steps
  • Find tutorials on advanced Illustrator features.
  • Follow the tutorials and practice the techniques.
  • Incorporate these techniques into your fashion designs.

Career center

Learners who complete Learn to draw fashion with Adobe Illustrator CC - Beginners will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Fashion Designer
A Fashion Designer conceptualizes and creates clothing and accessory designs, often using digital tools to produce accurate technical drawings for manufacturing. This course helps aspiring Fashion Designers learn to use Adobe Illustrator, a critical tool for creating fashion flats and technical specifications. Through workshops focused on garment drawing, the course builds a foundation in digital design, allowing designers to efficiently produce and edit designs. The course's focus on industry-standard practices is particularly beneficial, as it helps designers create reusable components and colorways, improving overall workflow and collaboration.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Designer
Technical Designer
The Technical Designer ensures that a design's vision is realized in the final product. This role requires creating detailed technical drawings and specifications for garment construction. This course helps those on track to becoming Technical Designers gain proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, a crucial tool for creating accurate and detailed fashion flats. The garment drawing workshops directly address the needs of technical design, and the course emphasizes industry-standard practices, improving efficiency in creating and editing drawings. The overview of design and product development will also provide valuable context within the fashion industry.
See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Designer
Apparel Graphic Designer
An Apparel Graphic Designer creates artwork and graphics for clothing, requiring proficiency in digital design tools to develop visually appealing and production-ready designs. This course helps Apparel Graphic Designers develop essential Adobe Illustrator skills specifically tailored for the fashion industry, and it also quickly enables them to make patterns ready for production and retail. The course's overview of industry workflows and focus on creating reusable components will also prove invaluable for managing and executing multiple design projects.
See salaries and explore the career path for Apparel Graphic Designer
Fashion Illustrator
The Fashion Illustrator visually represents clothing and accessories in a creative and artistic manner, often employing digital tools to create compelling images for marketing and editorial purposes. This course helps aspiring Fashion Illustrators gain proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, a powerful tool for creating fashion drawings and illustrations. The focus on garment drawing workshops and the specific techniques relevant to fashion design help develop the skills needed to produce professional-quality fashion illustrations. The course's emphasis on industry standards also gives illustrators a practical edge in collaborating with design teams.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Illustrator
Textile Designer
A Textile Designer creates the patterns, prints, and textures used in fabrics and materials, using digital tools to develop and visualize their designs. This course helps Textile Designers learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create intricate designs and patterns commonly found in textiles. The course's focus on core tools and features, along with garment drawing workshops, provides designers with the ability to create repeatable patterns and visualize them on garment templates. The knowledge of industry standards also enables seamless integration of their designs into the product development process.
See salaries and explore the career path for Textile Designer
Surface Pattern Designer
Surface Pattern Designers create original designs for application to a variety of surfaces, including textiles, packaging, and home goods, often using digital tools to produce repeating patterns and artwork. This course may be useful in helping Surface Pattern Designers learn to use Adobe Illustrator to develop patterns appropriate for fashion contexts. The focus on fashion-specific techniques and tools within Illustrator helps designers create patterns suitable for clothing and accessories. The course may serve you when designing patterns that integrate seamlessly into garment designs.
See salaries and explore the career path for Surface Pattern Designer
Product Developer
A Product Developer manages the process of bringing a fashion item from concept to production, often requiring a strong understanding of design software to communicate effectively with designers and manufacturers. This course may be useful in helping Product Developers gain a better understanding of Adobe Illustrator and its role in the fashion design process. The overview of the design and product development workflow, along with the focus on industry-standard practices, helps product developers better coordinate design activities. The course offers insights into the tools and techniques used by designers, facilitating smoother communication and collaboration.
See salaries and explore the career path for Product Developer
Fashion Stylist
A Fashion Stylist selects clothing and accessories to create specific looks for photoshoots, runway shows, or personal clients, and they must often communicate their vision effectively using visual aids. This course may be useful in helping Fashion Stylists learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create mood boards, sketches, and visual representations of their styling concepts. The ability to create digital fashion flats and illustrations helps stylists communicate their ideas clearly and professionally. The course may provide you with the skills to enhance presentations and client communication.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Stylist
Visual Merchandiser
A Visual Merchandiser creates visually appealing displays in retail stores to attract customers and promote sales, and might use design software to plan and visualize store layouts. This course may be useful in helping Visual Merchandisers learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create planograms, presentations, and visual aids for in-store displays. The ability to draw garment components and create fashion flats will help create compelling and accurate representations of merchandise layouts. This course may enhance your ability to plan and present visually appealing retail environments.
See salaries and explore the career path for Visual Merchandiser
Fashion Blogger
A Fashion Blogger creates content about fashion trends, styling tips, and industry news, and the blogger might use visual design tools to enhance their posts and social media presence. This course may be useful in helping Fashion Bloggers learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create visually appealing fashion illustrations and graphics for their blog posts and social media content. The skills gained will enhance the quality and professionalism of their online presence, and enable them to create unique and engaging content for their audience.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Blogger
Costume Designer
Costume Designers create clothing for theatrical, film, and television productions, often requiring detailed technical drawings and specifications. This course may be useful in helping Costume Designers learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create accurate and professional-looking costume designs. The focus on garment drawing workshops and industry-standard practices will help translate creative visions into practical and producible costumes. It may also assist in communicating design ideas effectively with costume construction teams.
See salaries and explore the career path for Costume Designer
Fashion Buyer
A Fashion Buyer selects and purchases merchandise for retail stores, requiring a keen eye for trends and a strong understanding of design details. This course may be useful in helping Fashion Buyers develop a better understanding of the design process and the technical aspects of garment construction using Adobe Illustrator. This course will develop a language with which buyers can communicate with designers. The focus on fashion-specific techniques and industry standards will enhance their ability to evaluate and select merchandise effectively.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Buyer
Sewing Pattern Designer
Sewing Pattern Designers create templates and instructions for individuals to sew their own garments, and digital design tools enhance the accuracy of such patterns. This course may be useful in helping Sewing Pattern Designers learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create accurate and detailed sewing patterns. The skills gained in garment drawing and technical specifications will enable the creation of clear and effective patterns for home sewing enthusiasts. By learning Adobe Illustrator, a designer can improve their workflow.
See salaries and explore the career path for Sewing Pattern Designer
Fashion Editor
A Fashion Editor curates and oversees the fashion content for magazines, websites, and other media outlets, requiring a strong understanding of design and visual communication. This course may be useful in helping Fashion Editors gain a better understanding of the visual design process and the tools used by designers. The course also promotes a language for assessing designs. It helps to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the technical aspects of garment creation, which may enhance their editorial judgment and content creation skills.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Editor
Fashion Marketing Specialist
Fashion Marketing Specialists develop and implement marketing strategies to promote clothing brands and products, often needing to create visually appealing content. This course may be useful in helping Fashion Marketing Specialists learn to use Adobe Illustrator to create engaging visual content for marketing campaigns. The ability to produce fashion flats and garment illustrations can enhance marketing materials and presentations. It may also provide a better understanding of the design process, which will enhance their ability to create effective marketing messages.
See salaries and explore the career path for Fashion Marketing Specialist

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Learn to draw fashion with Adobe Illustrator CC - Beginners.
Cover image
New Fashion Figure Templates - Expanded edition
Save
Focuses on the art of fashion illustration, providing guidance on sketching figures, rendering fabrics, and creating dynamic poses. While this course focuses on digital flats, this book will help you improve your understanding of form, proportion, and visual communication. It useful reference for understanding the underlying principles of fashion drawing. This book is more valuable as additional reading than it is as a current reference.
New Fashion Figure Templates - Expanded edition
Paperback
Check
New Fashion Figure Templates - Expanded edition
Kindle Edition
Check
Cover image
Fashion Design: The Complete Guide
Save
Provides a comprehensive overview of the fashion design process, from concept to production. It covers essential topics such as sketching, pattern making, and garment construction. It useful reference for understanding the broader context of fashion design and how Illustrator fits into the workflow. This book is more valuable as additional reading than it is as a current reference.
Fashion Design: The Complete Guide
Paperback
$$

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Rating
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Effort
5.5 total hours
Via
Udemy
Instructor
Jo Hughes
Language
English
Traffic lights
Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Focuses on the specific tools and techniques needed for fashion drawing, which is more efficient than generic Illustrator courses
Starts with an overview of Illustrator terminology and the interface, which builds a strong foundation for new users
Provides insight into the fashion product development process and how Illustrator fits into the industry workflow
Includes garment drawing workshops to practice acquired skills, which reinforces learning through hands-on experience
Uses Adobe Illustrator CC, which is an industry-standard tool for creating fashion flats and technical drawings
Includes supporting Illustrator work files for each lecture, which allows students to follow along and replicate the techniques
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