Fabric designer

Henry Budd

At first fabric designer Skye Gemell makes her job sound almost purely creative. But Gemell, who designs bed linen and other soft furnishings for KAS Australia, says the role requires more than just artistic talent.

In the first stage of coming up with new designs Gemell and her team use “mood boards”, where everyone pins photos, ideas, patterns and swatches of fabric.

Next, the odds and ends are sorted into themes or “stories” to guide the designers as they create the new season’s range.

“To develop our ideas we might paint or draw and we have a couple of girls who sew swatches so they start doing different embroidery techniques,” Gemell says. “I would then scan them into the computer and get some computer-aided artwork going.”

While it sounds more like an artists’ studio than a workplace, Gemell, 24, says there is also a mathematical element to fabric design.

The designers work in what is known as a repeat, where they design a small area which is then repeated all over the product.

“The pattern gets repeated all over the area, but you have to do it in such a way that you can’t tell,” she says.

“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, it should all sort of slot together. It’s quite mathematical because it is geometric.”

Having a short timeframe to design a repeatable pattern that looks good is the most difficult part of the job.

“There are deadlines on everything,” Gemell says. “You might have one hour to finish a cushion design so you have to get used to working in a fast-paced environment. We have eight designers in here, five of us are full time, so we are constantly discussing with each other.

“If one of us can’t solve a problem maybe someone else will be able to give more inspiration.”

While studying a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney, Gemell was awarded a scholarship to study screen printing at Central St Martin’s College of Art, London.

“I loved that and it was in the back of my mind that it was one of things that was really nice to do because it was really hands-on,” she says.

Gemell worked as graphic designer and stylist after returning to Australia.

“I was working for about a year before I realised graphic design wasn’t for me and I needed something more colourful and a little more hands-on,” Gemell says.
A trip to India inspired her to study textile design and screen printing at TAFE.

“I loved it and knew I’d found something that I would love to do whether I was paid for it or not,” she says. “Now it’s just a bonus that I do get paid.”

How to be a… fabric designer

Qualifications: TAFE NSW’s Sydney Institute offers a certificate IV in Design and Fabric Printing. Applications for 2009 close on Friday, October 31.

Course: The one-year, full-time course provides training in design skills and knowledge for people who want to develop commercial fabric print designs for local and international markets, which may be produced on a mass scale.

Students learn how to create and print innovative designs for fabrics while applying considerations of aesthetics and function. The course trains you for work in large printing and design firms, small printing workshops or self-employment.

On completion, graduates can apply to pursue further study in diploma and advanced diploma courses in related design fields, including the Diploma of Design and Fabric Printing and the Diploma of Fashion Design.

Assumed knowledge: NSW Higher School Certificate or equivalent. Students are also required to submit a design portfolio and complete a design and drawing test.

Cost: $456 per semester; one-off additional cost of $550 for materials, equipment.

From the inside: KAS Skye Gemell (pictured) was offered her current role after her work was spotted by KAS at the final exhibition for her course at TAFE.

“The course was wonderful and really gave me a good grounding,” Gemell says.

More information: sit.nsw.edu.au