International School of Colour + Design
A visual diary will travel with you through the dynamic and challenging Surface Design Diploma.
Designing a fun placement cushion design is a great way to begin working as a surface designer.
The starting point of any design for a Surface Designer is an inspiration board. The board pulls together colours, tones, styles, textural qualities and design tupes related to the topic area. This becomes the basis of design development.
Throughout the Surface Design Diploma, time is spent considering creativity and how to produce original work. You will be issued strict deadlines and briefs exposing you to the reality of the industry. One brief issued is to produce a cultural design suitable for thongs.
Surface Design students spend time exploring how to develop different colour palettes and apply them to different designs. This is an example of a design and colour combination created for a lampshade.
Following a brief for a specific purpose and market, students of the Surface Design Diploma research and design a ‘stripe’ for a deck chair in two colourways. Design techniques of line, proportion and space are employed along with colour psychology.
A fabric designer creates two dimensional designs that take into account line, shape, tone, texture and colour to solve a design brief. In the Surface Design Diploma a number of fabric design briefs are issued. This is a response to a children’s wear brief
This shows an alternative design for the children’s wear brief. It illustrates that so many designs are possible due to the creative process and design development.
Time is spent developing designs throughout the Surface Design Diploma. Record keeping is an essential part of the process as it shows originality of a design.
Taking Surface Design skills further, students apply their skills on the computer using Adobe Illustrator to create wallpaper designs for Porter’s Original Paints. Claudia Maher’s design is displayed at 100% to the left and 20% repeat and register to the right.
This illustrates the quality of work that can be achieved in the Porter’s Original Paints wallpaper brief. Students used the Adobe Illustrator computer program to create a repeat and register design. This wallpaper design originated from a hand drawn design.
Taking textile design skills further, students are issued a swimwear brief and asked to design an allover floral design, one coordinating stripe design, one placement print and one border design all with the same colour palette and theme.
Throughout the Surface Design Diploma, professional standards are kept in regards to presentations. Students visually and verbally present each project. This is a visual presentation for a swimwear brief.
Mokum Textile presents an industry brief for Surface Design students. The brief is to develop a range of fabric for the company following a strict timeline and brief. Professionally presented in three alternate colourways is a design titled Seka.
‘Falling Fern’ is a design by a Surface Design student and professionally presented in four alternate colourways for the Mokum Textile industry brief.
iscd Surface Design graduate Jodi Storey uses her skills to produce wrapping papers for her company Ella Cooper Design
iscd Surface Design graduate Jodi Storey uses her skills to produce stretch canvases of her design work for her company Ella Cooper Design.
