Are you a creative person who enjoys putting together great outfits? This makes you a natural for the field of fashion design. This degree allows you put your style knowledge to work designing and creating clothing for consumers of all types. This is a competitive field that has the potential to be very rewarding for students who are willing to work hard.Skills Gained from a Fashion Degree
Although you may get a head start on your degree simply by having a great sense of style, you can gain numerous additional fashion skills by pursuing a degree. Some of the core skills learned in the program include:
Understanding of different fabrics, textiles, and clothing ornamentation
Insight into the fashion industry and current trends
Basic business and marketing skills for the fashion industry
Clothing design skills
Style design skills (such as how to work as a personal stylist)What a To Expect in a Course
People who get this degree typically attend either a two-year or four-year program. The course is usually one degree offered at a design or art school. Some of the specific classes that students take include:
Sewing and tailoring
Pattern making
Art history with an emphasis on the history of fashion
Design technology including computer-aided design
Business classes with an emphasis on entrepreneurship
Sales and marketing classesFashion Design Degrees
The core degree that students get when graduating from a fashion design program is in fashion design. However, there are related degrees that may be obtained from a fashion school as well. For example, there are specific degrees in footwear design and accessory design. There are also degrees for the business side of fashion including merchandising and marketing degrees.Jobs for Students
Upon graduation, most students use their degrees to get into an entry level position in retail. Others begin to work as assistants to a working fashion designer. Eventually these designers become self-employed as fashion designers. Important things for prospective design students to know about the industry, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, include:The number of jobs available in this industry is expected to remain steady between 2008 and 2018. Intense competition for fashion careers is expected during this time.The states with the most jobs designers in the United States are New York or California.The median annual wage for fashion designers in 2009 was $64,260. The majority of people working in this field are earning between $32,320 and $90,020.The state of the economy has made it so that a vast number of consumers are interested in the option to purchase affordable clothing that is still stylish and attractive. The majority of jobs for fashion degree students at this time are in this area of the market. Students interested in high-end boutique design may have a tougher time getting a job in today’s market.
Is Fashion Design the Right Degree for You?
Buying a Lot to Get a Custom Home Designed
Deciding what lot to purchase to get a custom home designed can be intimidating and stressful. Some things to consider to help make it less so.The lot of course has to accommodate whatever is desired in the design. There is some leeway here as a custom home design is like a puzzle with different size pieces. The way those pieces fit together determine the width and depth of the house. Sometimes room orientations are flexible and the shorter dimension can be in the width resulting in a narrower house. That is one of the reasons why it is important if the house is to be custom designed to fit the lot that it be purchased first.The easiest way to ensure a house of the footage you desire will fit on the lot is if there are similar houses of that footage already on lots in the subdivision. If not then it is usually a matter of taking into account what will be different and how that will affect the width or depth. Some differences simply might not work however for some lots. If you want a garage that you enter from the side the distance from the property line is preferably 30′ and may not be achievable. Another major consideration is a pool. A simple rectangular pool will require about 30′x15′ not including whatever deck area there is. Unique shapes and elaborate landscaping can greatly impact the space needed.Building lines and easements need to be considered. Most subdivisions have restrictions which spell out the minimum distance, building lines, from the property line a house or any structure including a pool has to be. There may be easements for utilities on specific lots that can not be built on. While it is rare there may also be height limitations so be sure that neither the restrictions or the city will disallow what will be necessary for your design. Once again looking to what has been built can help answer that question.Some cities or subdivisions will not allow trees of a certain diameter to be cut down. Not that you would want to but if a tree is in the area where the house would have to be then a choice has to be made. Typically the root system will extend to the canopy of the tree. Many a tree close too a house has never caused foundation problems but many have. It is not a chance you want to take.Determine if the lot is in an area that floods or is subject to the flood plain map. It may be a required that the house be built a minimum height off the ground.The other consideration is orientation of the lot. For energy efficiency in warmer climates ideally the front of the lot will face north. The main objective is to have the sides of the house with less windows with an east and west orientation. The rear of the house facing south will usually have some porch to protect windows from the southern winter sun. However while this is advantageous it should not be the main criteria of a lot choice to the point it will compromises the house design.Hope this knowledge helps take some of the intimidation and stress out of the equation!
Home Design & Decor – Plan the Layout of Furniture in a New Home Using Design Software
Using HGTV’s home design software – or software from other companies that offer similar options – you can plan your new house (or your remodeling) right down to the layout of your furniture. That’s a great way to move forward on the new house you want or the remodeling of the house you already live in. You can also use it to plan how you want to decorate and change the house you have now, simply by rearranging the furniture, adding to it with new purchases, or taking some of it away.Some people pay hundreds of dollars to have someone else tell them what kind of furniture and accessories to buy and where they should place those pieces for maximum effect. The problem with that is the designer is the one with the opinion that gets used, and the person who lives in the home often doesn’t have much say in where things are put. It seems much more logical that the person who lives there should be the one to choose where things are placed in the home, according to his or her own taste.If you want to make your own decisions when it comes to your furniture layout, you can get home design & décor software that will let you move things around, change things, and keep adjusting things until you feel like you have your home furniture layout just the way you want it. Then you can see about rearranging the actual furniture in your home, and you’ll know whether you want to use the pieces you have, get all new ones, or simply replace a few of them.You’ll also be able to see how the arrangement would look without being required to move a lot of heavy furniture around and then move it back (or somewhere else) if you don’t like where you’ve moved it to. That can quickly become annoying, and can result in aggravation, fatigue, and injury. Plus, you could damage the floor, walls, and/or furniture if you’re not careful with what you’re doing. Moving furniture and changing the layout virtually is much easier and less stressful.Of course, it’s not the same on the screen of a computer as it is in real life, so you won’t get quite the same effect that you would get if you actually moved the furniture and could look at the room. However, trying the home décor & design program first is a great way to experiment if you really aren’t sure what you want to do when it comes to rearranging what you already have. It’s also a great way to save yourself a lot of money.There are designers who will help you, but they change quite a lot per hour. If you can design things yourself, you can spend the money that you would have spent on a designer on the new furnishing and decorations you want in your home. That’s a much better and longer-lasting investment.