HAWAIIAN SHIRT PROJECT—Introduction to Digital Applications
INTRODUCTION:
In this project we were tasked to design and illustrate a Hawaiian Shirt according to a theme of our choice that include the following elements: an illustrated pattern using the pattern maker tool, a 3D-looking button using a Radial Gradient and the Gaussian Blur and Shape Builder tool; an Aloha style label with a textured background and artwork that used Blend Mode to allow the texture to show through the art. All of these elements were put together in a final Tabloid layout including the shirt, samples of the pattern illustration, the button and the label. A shirt name and the creator's name were to be placed below the shirt.
The Image above shows the final layout for the Hawaiian Shirt Project
MATERIALS:
Computer, Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator.
CREATIVE PROCESS:
I wanted to create a Hawaiian shirt to spread and share the feeling of a sunny day in the Hawaii island beach so I tried to create a pattern that reflects that. Since I was child, as soon as someone mentioned Hawaii, I imagined a picture of a beach umbrella and surfing board deep in the sand in my mind. Base on that I start to convert that picture to the pattern for designing the shirt which represents that picture.
I chose the dark blue as my main colour of the Shirt because firstly it makes the shirt more elegant and is matching with the other elements of the shirt, secondly the theme of it has the pattern of beach, and blue background is able to spread feelings of the sea. Following that I further chose the gradient blue colour for the bottoms to match with the whole shirt. I designed the Aloha Label for my Hawaiian shirt to create the shape which has the same figures as the main theme of the shirt but not fully copying it.
WORKFLOW:
I began by placing a picture of a Hawaiian Shirt into Illustrator as a template layer and traced the general shapes for the shirt elements, one on top of the other.
During the template tracing process, I ensured that all the edges and lines met appropriately and were layered in the correct order.
Once I completed the tracing, I deleted the template layer and completed any remaining adjustments to the shape of the Hawaiian Shirt.
I then began to draw my beach umbrella and surfing board deep in the sand artwork, using the reference images found on Google as template for my pattern drawing artwork.
The beach umbrella and surfing board deep in the sand artwork was then made into a pattern using the pattern-making tool in Illustrator.
I utilized the appearance panel once more and used the "Multiply" mode to achieve Lightened and darkened, shadow effect on the inside element of the shirt. The "Screen" effect was used on the inner triangle portion of the shirt to create the look of the inner fabric.
The pen tool was utilized to draw shadow shapes under the collars of the shirt. The appearance panel was used for these shapes with a "multiply" mode along with the "Gaussian Blur" effect to create the look of a shadow.
Using the ellipses tool, a circle was drawn and filled with a radial gradient. In the gradient color slider, multiple colors stops were added at varying shades to create the look of a beveled ridge. A lighter color was applied to the inside to create greater dimension. Four circles were drawn inside the large one and the shape builder tool was utilized to subtract these smaller circles on the inside, leaving spaces behind to create a sort of button shape. Shadows were drawn and layered behind the button to create more dimension.
After the "buttons" had a few layers of white "string" drawn between the holes, they were copied and pasted onto the shirt and laid down at equal distance from one another.
The shirt label was next. I found a label-like rough texture image on Google and brought it into Illustrator then I created a new layer and I began drawing my label art using the pen tool. I wanted to keep in tune with the theme of my beach umbrella and surfing board deep in the sand art in the pattern of the shirt, so I went with an imagined company that I might be one day in future have as fashion designer company which is "RJ.FDesign", stylish and special.
At the end my label turns to this.
CONCLUSIONS:
This Hawaiian shirt taught me some important things - like how to make and adjust a pattern in Adobe Illustrator, using a variety of functions in the Appearance Panel. If I were to do this project again, I would like to draw some more elements like blanket under the beach umbrella or even some human figures to make it more realistic and attractive. But all in all, I think this is a shirt I could wear and feel stylish and happy in it.
