Feb 15, 2023

Tech Pack Design: From Sketches to Sample Development

The role of a tech pack designer is crucial in transferring an idea to a factory-ready tech pack. From sketches to wearable garment samples, tech pack designers design the entire process flow. When starting a clothing line, it is imperative to hire a tech pack designer to provide support. Essentially, they shape your idea by converting your sketches into garments. Tech pack designers simplify style technicalities, making sample development and production more accessible. The result is an apparel tech pack that any factory in the world can follow to produce your garment. From there, the process moves forward to sample development and apparel production. 


freelance tech pack designer




1. Assessment of the Fashion Illustration :

The first firefight for a tech pack or technical designer is to assess whether a given illustration or style is feasible for production. This is a critical hurdle that must be cleared before moving forward with the design process. Often, there are technical issues visible at the illustration stage that a creative designer may overlook. Therefore, the first job of a fashion technical designer is to evaluate the feasibility of a design or illustration and determine whether it can be progressed further.

2. Production-Friendly Design

Assessing the feasibility of a style idea is one of the toughest challenges facing technical designers. It is essential to determine the possibility of mass production to ensure the success of the client's idea. Failure to assess this could result in the failure of the collection's sale, and the client could lose money in the entire process. Therefore, it is crucial for a technical designer to conduct a thorough analysis of the design to determine its potential for mass production, ensuring that the client's investment is not wasted. You may follow the post " How to Give Your Style Idea a Shape for Clothing Manufacturer". to prepare your collection styles before approaching a technical clothing designer. 


3. Choosing the Right Fabric and Color Keeping in Mind the Season

When people ask for designs and sketches for current European trends or US plus-size garments, the technical fashion designer must do extensive research and gather information about the fabric. This includes having an understanding of grading and fabric shrinkage, knowing what fabrics are suitable for specific styles,  understanding GSM (Grams per Meter), weaving techniques, and more. Additionally, the tech pack designer must consider fabric availability and fabric development possibilities for the style. These are some of the critical factors that a technical designer must keep in mind while developing a tech pack. By taking into account these factors, the designer can ensure that the resulting tech pack is accurate and feasible for production.

4. Drawing the Flat Sketches Approve It

At the operational stage, the first hurdle for any technical designer is to create technical flats from the illustrations provided by the creative designer/buyer and obtain approval. Typically, the illustration and technical sketch drawings are two different parts of the design. The illustration provides an overall and one-sided view of the garment style, while the flat sketch provides a 360-degree view of the entire garment. Any gaps between the illustration and technical sketch need to be filled through communication and coordination. It is crucial for the technical designer to have a clear understanding of the creative designer's vision to ensure that the resulting tech pack accurately represents the intended design. By ensuring effective communication and coordination, technical designers can create high-quality technical flats that meet the client's requirements.

5. Technical Drawing / Tech Pack Design

Once the technical flats are approved and finalized, the next step for the tech pack designer is to prepare the tech pack and measurement spec sheet. The technical designer must have a clear understanding of sewing construction and translate it into the tech packs. The preparation and review of tech packs for complete and accurate information about the garment are vital. The tech pack is prepared in phases, usually consisting of 8 to 9 steps, depending on the garment detailing and specifications given by the creative designer or client who has created the garment style/illustration. To learn more about the steps involved in tech pack design, click on the link provided. By following a structured and comprehensive approach to tech pack design, technical designers can ensure that the resulting tech pack is accurate, detailed, and easy to follow during the garment production process.

6. Technical Audit and Quality Assurance

After the release of tech packs to the factories, it is crucial for a tech pack designer to ensure that the sample production adheres to the given specifications in the spec pack. It is recommended that the samples are not sent for final approval until they have been passed by the tech pack designer. The sample audit process encompasses various stages such as checking the fabric, trims, S.P.I (stitches per inch) or S.P.C (stitches per centimeter), print detailing and quality, embroidery detailing, washing, and more. The tech pack designer conducts the initial technical audit and quality assurance for the sample development.

The role of the tech pack designer becomes crucial at this stage, as they are responsible for quality assessment and sample approval. The technical designer must ensure that the samples produced meet the measurement specifications provided to the factory or sample maker. They also need to ensure that the samples have the required quality, including fabric, trims, stitch per inch or stitch per centimeter, print detailing, embroidery detailing, washing, and so on. Only after the tech pack designer approves the samples, they can be sent for final approval and production.

Hope this post makes good sense to your studies and Information. For any kind of tech pack design or sample production or any production assistance, you may feel free to Contact Me. If you require any assistance with apparel production or sample development, in addition to tech pack design services, please feel free to contact me via email.

We offer a variety of ready-to-use tech pack templates that you can download and use right away. These templates have been tried and tested and modified to achieve the highest level of accuracy. Simply visit our tech pack template store, choose the style you need, and download the template. If you require any assistance, feel free to contact us for further support with apparel production or sample development.