How To Combine Fashion and Graphic Design as a Career

Many people have more than one passion but find that their job limits them to just one area. Some people aren't lucky enough to even work in one area they enjoy. However, if you were interested in fashion and graphic design, you could easily combine them.

The fashion and design worlds cross over in many areas, and even if you are not employed in either industry, it is possible to create your niche. How could you get involved in the design and fashion businesses? 

Although it is easy to feel that print is in decline, the popularity of fashion magazines continues. Even if such giants as Cosmopolitan and Elle disappear from the magazine racks, they would still need staff for their numerous websites. Elle alone has 33 international websites catering to fashion fans and the people who work in the industry.

Magazines need layout artists, graphic designers, and illustrators. Though they usually cooperate with a loyal high-end retouching company for a long time, they may also need other people who have a strong working knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator along with other industry standards. This is one area a graphic designer could look at if they were interested in working primarily in the fashion industry. 

Designing and selling enamel pins is definitely one of the best business ideas for people who are artistically inclined. These hard or soft enamel pins have been a worldwide fashion trend for years, for they can personalize and customize clothes, backpacks, hats, shoes and many more. You can start enamel pins by doing some research and get to know the overall market, to find your  unique niche market. Next is to create your designs which would be super easy for people who possess design skills. Then you can connect professional pin makers like EnamelPins to get your pins manufactured. In terms of where to sell your pins, you can use online platforms like Amazon, Shopify and many more, or you can sell them on different local markets. 

Working freelance means that your work will fluctuate, and you don't have the security of being an employee, but it does mean you can focus on specific areas you enjoy. You will need to invest in software and equipment, and be dedicated to finding clients may be difficult. Students who apply for help with writing essays to an essay service have the opportunity to work on a freelance basis too.

You can contact local independent fashion retailers, design companies further afield, and advertising agencies. Sometimes agencies need freelancers for big contracts, and if you contact fashion designers, you might be able to pick up some small contracts to get your portfolio going. Alternatively, specialize in a specific area of fashion, such as hang tags. 

Clothing garments have to have labels attached to them under US labeling law. Other regions such as the UK have similar rules, and these are there to protect consumers and inform them about who manufactured the garment and from where the materials came from. It might not be very interesting for a designer to work on these, but there is another form of tag that clothing manufacturers use.

Hang tags are different from laundry labels as these don't have to contain any specific care instructions or legal details. They can be used in various ways to display different information-and this is where a designer's role comes in. You could literally make a career out of designing hang tags as they are used in all fashion areas and for many other products. Although your client would likely have specific requirements such as the logo and corporate colors to be used, you may find many clients let you design custom tags, which means a lot of freedom. 

There is a demand for custom clothing as some consumers move away from mass production due to concerns over the environment. This opens a new area for a budding designer. You could open an online store where customers upload designs that you then turn into professional-looking artwork. You can outsource the printing of labels here but keep the design work in-house.

Alternatively, you could offer your own designs and start your own brand. 

This might take some investment, so you may need to look for someone to support your startup. However, you will be able to make all your own fashion designs and have full control over any graphics, logos, and packaging. This would be the ultimate job combining fashion and design work and covering all aspects.

There are many advantages to starting your own label. Not only can you have control over all the design aspects, but you can find a niche in the market to drive your business forward. The environment is extremely big news in the fashion world, and you could have a chance to start a truly ethical business.

Imagine starting a t-shirt brand, for instance, where you could offer high-quality organic cotton with your graphics and designs. Not only that, but your buyers would know that you were dedicated to ethical farming, fair wages, and being carbon-neutral. This would set you apart from some other rivals. 

If you don't want to make your own label and custom clothing is not your thing, you should opt for a more traditional route and aim to become a fashion designer. You could get great job satisfaction from watching how your dresses can make someone feel good about themselves. Plus, you will be working in fashion and designing at the same time. You would need some education, and a degree in art, design, or fashion design itself would all help you to start a career in the industry.

You would need to have a portfolio and possibly display clothing that you have actually designed yourself. Being a dress or fashion designer is more than just being able to sketch out some mood boards. You would need to be creative, of course, but other skills such as IT will also be necessary. 

For a graphic designer, an advertising or marketing agency is an obvious choice. The downside is that you cannot pick your clients. The only way to ensure that the agency even has clients in the fashion world would be to put in some serious research. If you had favorite fashion designers, you could try and find out which agencies produce their advertising and then see internships or possible vacancies there, but it is probably a long shot.

One way to work with graphic design and fashion would be to aim for a corporation or well-known brand name. A company that employs several people as opposed to a small independent designer will have more opportunities. These companies will have their own dedicated marketing departments that liaise with outside agencies. They also employ their own graphic artists to produce work in-house.

The positives of working for a brand mean that you could end up working on a variety of projects. They will have internal documents and magazines. They will have an intranet, and there will be updates and graphics needed. There is the possibility of working on POS displays, packaging, and maybe some localized advertising campaigns. There will also be room for growth, and you can make contacts with outside advertising and marketing agencies.

The downside is that your creativity may be stifled as corporations have strict rules about how their logos are displayed, which colors are used, and what fonts are acceptable. 

It is possible that after finding a position in the fashion world, your design skills may take you elsewhere. A video production needs visually talented people to produce credits and beautiful title sequences. Fashion shows need stage designers and backdrops being produced. They also need posters and advertising made for the shows. 

The graphic design and fashion world are completely linked. There are so many ways graphics are used in the fashion world. These are only a few ways that graphics could be combined with a love of fashion, but there are many more.