Inspiration: Product & Fashion Design

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Today I'm back with another post in my inspiration series on product & fashion design. Cool products and fashion items are some of the easiest to spot sources of inspiration, because they're things we use every day and tend to notice. And I have some fun ones to share with you!

I'll start with product design, and then the second half of the post will be on fashion design. First up are some cool beach chairs from Gallant and Jones. I saw them on Poppytalk Handmade last month and thought they were so neat. I love the creativity of making such a simple item like a beach chair look unique and beautiful. Here are two favorites with links.

Aberffraw beach chair | see here

Tyhee beach chair | see here

What I really like about these is the clean simple, design. It's kind of similar to the ideas I talked about last Thursday with home decor examples. I also love the two color design of these patterns (well, three if you count the wood of the chairs). Keeping the number of colors to a minimum is a surefire way to keep a design uncluttered, and these beach chairs remind me of that concept for graphic design.

Next up are some really neat bags from Baggu, designed by Caitlin Mociun, and found on Design*Sponge. Here are two examples. Aren't they neat patterns?

Blocks bag | see here

S Mociun bags | see here

Similar to the beach chairs, these bags have a pretty simple design color-wise. But what's unique about these bags is the hand-drawn looking design. It gives the pattern a funky, almost homespun look that is really neat. I find that handmade, arts and crafts style really neat and inspiring. I don't think I've quite figured out how to apply it in my graphic design, but maybe one day I will. If you want to see more of these bags, check out Baggu.

The next thing I want to show you is a t-shirt from Ugmonk, an online shop I've mentioned on my blog at least once before. This could've gone in the graphic design category, but I thought I'd put it in product design since it is a product. It's a neat example about how graphic design can be applied to products and not just logos and magazines and such.

One Hundred t-shirt | see here

There are lots of things I love about this t-shirt. First, it has a simple, striking color scheme. Also, I like how the colors overlap - that was really creative and it provides a great way for both "26" and "74" to be readable. But I think what inspires me the most about this product is how FUN it is. Most of Ugmonk's products are similar in that regard. It's very happy looking design-wise, but the concept is just fun, too. 26 + 74 = 100, but why put that on a shirt? Maybe there's a special reason or maybe there's not. But it's fun.

One more quick thing before I move on to fashion design. This collage of items was published on Design*Sponge, and they're all things having to do with The Sound of Music. I love that movie and I love the idea of collecting items that are reminiscent of it. I like these items because they center around something important about inspiration: memories. I like these things because of the memories I have of the movie, and I think what things we like and what things inspire us to create depend partially on memories and associations we have.

You can find more Sound of Music items and all the links to find them here on Design*Sponge.

Okay, now for some fashion design. I think clothes are a lot of fun, so I could ramble on here for quite awhile. I'll try to be selective in what I post though so you don't get too bored.

First, here's a neat outfit I found on Ellie's Tumblr, Hello Grey Rainbow, awhile ago. Neither Ellie nor I know where it came from, but it's so cute. I love the color combinations.

That's one thing about fashion design that is inspiring: colors. It's fun to see the color combinations different pieces and outfits use, and lots of that can translate to other types of design, even graphic design.

Two of my favorite places to look for clothes are Anthropologie and ModCloth. The only thing I've ever bought from either one was a formal dress from ModCloth, but they're both fun for window-shopping. I thought I'd share a few favorite items from each. First, a couple from Anthropologie...

Awbury tee | see here

Frilled Echelons peacoat | see here

Nicoleta blouse | see here

I think all those things are really fun. I'm inspired by the colors - even though they are all single colors, the exact choices of hues are great. Choosing colors is actually a pretty hard thing to do, and these fashion items inspire me to take my time and get it right, because it does make a difference. And while I can't exactly afford to buy any of these things from Anthropologie, I can apply the inspiration by looking for similar colored pieces at more affordable locales (like the thrift store!).

And now some of the things I've "loved" on ModCloth. (If you sign up for an account, you can "love" certain items and they stay together in a list.)

Truly 'Sol'-ful top | see here

Viridian Maiden dress | see here

Carmine Charm dress | see here

I think these items from ModCloth inspire me most because of the overall style each one has. That's an important element of graphic design as well as clothing design. The yellow top has a more simple, graphic design, the green dress is cute and ruffly, and the final one is more subdued and quiet looking. These pieces can inspire me to look at the overall feeling of my design more.

That's all for today! I'd love to hear what your favorite things are from the post, or any other comments you have about product and fashion design!