My Design Process
Today, in the comeback that no one was waiting for, the blog is back! I thought I would give you all an insight into my process of how I create my designs for a show. I am currently in the design process for a couple of upcoming shows and it’s always such an exciting process and always slightly different but it goes through about 10 stages:
1. Read the script
This may seem obvious, but it is of course the key part to the beginning of every design process. I sit with my notebook in my hand and read the script front to back. As I go through the script I note down every new character and as they reveal more about themselves and other characters reveal more about them I make notes about general feelings I get from each of the characters. At this stage I also occasionally scribble down very quick, simple sketches of silhouettes or note down colours that I might be already thinking of for each character.
2. Talk to the director
This is a really important initial conversation to make sure you are both on the same page. Also, ultimately you are working together to achieve the director’s vision so you chat together about colours and the general aesthetic. Depending on the director this conversation might go character by character or be more of a general chat about the overall look.
3. Create a mood board
(Sometimes this is step 2 of the process) But after reading the script and chatting to the director I start to put together images on Pinterest that give a general aesthetic of what I am imagining. I then bring this to the director to discuss further (obviously if this is step 2 then the mood board would be part of the director discussion). Then I sometimes skip to step 4 or I continue with more specific mood boards exploring specific characters or groups of characters if the design is more complex (for example, this is what I did with The Fruits of Enlightenment, while there is just one general mood board for the Rose Theatre’s upcoming production of The Odyssey).
4. Start sketching
From here, I go character by character and begin my sketches. I used to do these all my hand with pencils and pro markers, but I have recently acquired the use of an iPad and Apple Pencil which makes the process a lot quicker, and a lot easier on my wrist! It means I have a wider range of colours and can much more easily delete and resize garments, as well as quickly seeing what alternative colours might work as well as quickly removing and adding different items of clothing using the layering feature. Regardless of what I’m using I try to create a detailed sketch of every character, even the small ones, just so I am sure I have an idea and a sense of the direction for every character in the piece. I would then show these to the director and we would have a discussion about what they liked/disliked and then make adjustments from there until both of us are happy with the final sketches.
5. Get measurements
Now it’s time to measure your performers! Sometimes this can be trickier when working with young people or community casts if they aren’t able to come to every rehearsal, so you may have to go in more than once or rely on sending them costume forms for them to fill out themselves. This is sometimes slightly terrifying as not everyone knows which measurement is where on their body. Usually people get it right, however I have had a parent return a form where they said their teenager’s chest was 12 inches around which is roughly the thickness of a newborn baby’s chest! But it all got sorted in the end.
6. Sourcing and making
The next step after this is sourcing and making! Often, if I’m working in a theatre that has its own costume store I will start there, as this may mean that the budget will open up a little more. After this I write out a list of all the costume items we have left to source/make. I then work out what on this list I think I will most likely be able to find in shops/online and what is more likely to be needed to be made. During this process you will inevitably discover that some of the things you have drawn either simply don’t exist or will be wildly expensive to either make or to buy. Sometimes items don’t have to be so specific and you find a good substitute and sometimes they might be better than the original design! However, sometimes that perfect item just isn’t appearing and there is nothing even remotely similar to what you’re looking for (or is too expensive!). Sometimes this will even mean completely redesigning the look. I do a mixture of shopping online and going out to shops, often aiming for charity shops as there are often some great gems in there for a great price, you just have to do a lot of rooting around!
7. Fittings
Once you have got as much sourced as you can you then hold fittings with your performers. Sometimes these can be multiple sessions if you perhaps have a large cast, or haven’t quite gotten everything you need, or if you’re making a lot of the costumes. Sometimes time will unfortunately not allow for multiple fittings as performers may only be available for one hour out of rehearsals with how heavy schedules can be or if rehearsals are only once or twice a week.
8. Alterations and final bits
Once you have (hopefully) done a fitting with all of your performers you will know if anything needs reordering in a different size or if you need to alter any of the items. Sometimes you may also be adding extra flourishes to items you’ve bought, or completely restructuring garments. Further, sometimes in fittings you will see something on and it will completely not work for whatever reason which sometimes means redesigning a look or simply buying a different option.
9. Tech rehearsal
Now obviously this is where the paths completely diverge if you are working on film or TV rather than theatre. Since a lot more of my experience is in theatre I’ll focus on that. Depending on the production you may have a few days of teching or sometimes only a few hours! This is essentially a chance for all the teams to come together and put everything they have been working on onto the stage. While this is probably the most important step for the lighting and sound team it is also an essential part of the costume process. This is the first time you will see the clothes on the stage in the lighting states. This can sometimes again mean that something completely doesn’t work as a whole redesign or at least buying something else might be needed. It can certainly be a frantic time of running in and out of rehearsals to source that extra vest or a new dress. It is also the first opportunity to properly practice quick changes, unless you’ve been very lucky to be able to practice these in rehearsals, although this is often tricky. Once all these have been sorted you are then ensuring that performers are wearing their costume in the correct way and making sure that they know when to change and what to change into if they have more than one costume.
10. Dress rehearsal
Following on from this there will then (hopefully) be a dress rehearsal which is a chance to see the show run through exactly as it should be when performed for an audience. This is a really important time to have your notebook out to make any notes of missing costume pieces, things that don’t look quite right or if a performer does something strange with any of their pieces of clothing. Sometimes it might even be that a piece of costume comes flying off in the middle of a scene because no one realised quite how vigorous of a movement they make when they’re wearing that very loose hat. Once all of those corrections have been made in time for the first performance, you are underway! I always keep a notebook to hand for the first couple of performances but usually by the second or third there are rarely any issues still. Of course, again, this depends on the show as it may only have a one or two night run in which case it is often unnecessary to take notes.