Mikelle Pellum’s Post

Clearly communicating your design, your creative vision, is a skill that all designers need. For most of us, the way we communicate our vision is with visuals: sketches, drawings. Our most common languages are flat sketches and tech packs. Through that language, we create our product, our collections. That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about digital fashion design software. I often tell people to think of it as another tool (like your markers or color pencils or pens) that can help you communicate your design vision. Digital tools help enhance your already natural talent. Embrace it, learn it, have fun with it, let them do what they're supposed to do: help you be as creative as you can be!

Everyday, I see a new AI Fashion app here on LinkedIn. There's so many, I can't keep up. I did a search a few days ago to prep material for our networking event coming up, and I found even more! 🤦🏾♀️ And yet, when you really take into account what these tools are doing, how many of them are truly affecting your design development tasks? How many of these have actually helped streamline your workflow? Outside of the sketch to render tools, which I think can be really helpful when you're sharing initial sketches and making decisions about the assortment, what else is out there, that's not a marketing tool? Am I wrong about this? If I am, please share what you're using in the comments. I would love to try an AI tool that truly helps designers do their ACTUAL tasks.

It has been WAY too long since I've had a chance to meet up with other NYC designers in person. So, we're doing it! Our annual (well, soon to be annual I guess because we got interrupted by the pandemic) networking and collaboration event is happening on Thursday, November 7th. We'll snack, hydrate, laugh, learn, follow, support, collab, all the things our creative community should be doing for eachother. Plus, you'll take home some fun swag and a few new nuggets of info to add to your design toolbox! It's going to be a good time, so if you're in the NY Metro area and you're an indie fashion designer, fashion entrepreneur or aspire to be one, mark your calendars for Thursday, November 7th at 6pm. Tix available soon on Eventbrite!

This!! I’ll be sharing this with my students. Breaks it down so well!

Calling all NY Metro indie and aspiring fashion designers and fashionentrepreneurs! 383 Design Studio is having our first post-pandemic, face-to-face event, and I want to meet and chop it up with all of you! It's been 5 years since we've seen each other in person. Some of us haven't even met! But I am excited to network, fellowship, share resources, build community, teach, learn, and of course, have some fun! So mark your calendars for Thursday, November 7th at 6pm. I can't wait to see you all again! (Or meet you for the first time in person!)

MidJourney. NewArc. Raspberry. Luma. Lalaland. VMake. How many AI fashion apps can you name? Now, tell me how many of them ACTUALLY help you do more than generate a pretty picture? There are SO many AI apps out right now, and they're being released weekly (dare I say daily). I can't keep up! But how helpful are they, really? If you're designing physical product, garments that people actually wear and that have to be produced and sold, are these tools actually helping the design development process? That's the question I'm exploring in today's YouTube video! Check it out now on the 383design YouTube channel! 🔗 in comments. And then let me know if you've come across any good AI tools that are actually making a difference in your day-to-day designer tasks. Special thanks to Sylwia Szymczyk for the inspiration for this video and Raspberry AI for the software to create that lovely render of my sweatshirt!

This is a simple tip to make your sketches that much more accurate! Check out this super short teaser from my recent YouTube on how to create a blindstitch on a flat sketch in Illustrator. 🔗 in comments to watch the full 2 minute tutorial.

Have you checked out today’s BlerdOut Movement podcast? Yours truly is on it talking about digital tools that revolutionize fashion and make it more accessible to many different body types.

Digital fashion design software definitely helps to expedite design development. But if you thought any newly developed fashion software like 3D would ELIMINATE the need for a tech pack, hate to bring the bad news, but . . . IT WON'T! Tech packs will always be a necessity if you want a physical sample, and you want it done right (and don't want to waste your time and money!) Still confused about tech packs and how to create one? Join me LIVE in Manhattan this Saturday, October 12, 2024 @ 9:30AM EST for class. 🔗 in comments to sign up!

I have been waiting for this podcast to come out, and I’m SUPER geeked about it! Make sure you take a moment to check my BlerdOut Movement podcast episode, out Wednesday, October 9th.