What You Need to Know About Technical Illustrations and Tech Packs

One of the vital requirements to progress with manufacturers or the production and development of your garments in general, is a tech pack - at the bare minimum you should be attaining technical illustrations. Annoyingly, technical illustrations are also referred to as technical flats, technical drawings, CADs or flat drawings so it is worth familiarising yourself with these key phrases when liaising throughout your development process.

Why Can’t I Use My Rough Sketches?

If you’re looking to take your designs forward and have patterns made eventually leading into samples and production, a hand drawn sketch won’t cut it. For those responsible in bringing your idea to life, detailed, clear drawings are needed for accuracy. This removes any room open for artistic interpretation and ultimately saves you money in miscommunication and errors.

The Difference Between a Technical Illustration and a Tech Pack

A technical illustration is a two dimensional linear graphic that depicts as much detail as possible. Including top-stitching, seams, pockets, construction details, fastenings and darts. Without one, you will probably encounter difficulty working with a pattern cutter as a rough sketch can lead to inaccurate proportions that a technical flat clarifies.

A tech pack is a thorough document that includes technical illustrations and more. It is sent out to factories ahead of production to request quotes and pricing for making your pieces. Most factories will not take you seriously or provide without one and if they do, you will undoubtedly run into problems throughout the process for lack of clarity, detail and communication in relation to your design.

Technical Illustrations in More Detail

Technical illustrations don’t include a figure and although colours can be incorporated, they are classically rendered in black and white with no indication of texture or form. The name ‘technical flat’ refers to the fact they resemble a garment laid on a flat surface. When you have a technical illustration created, it is expected to receive both a front and back depiction of your design as a bare minimum. The more complex your design, the more alternative views you may need to clearly explain the details.

Technical flats can also be used on linesheets when approaching shops, wholesalers and buyers. They’re very useful to represent a simple image of your product that enables the buyer to clearly understand the design proportions and detail.

As mentioned, a pattern cutter will need a technical illustration to refer to in order to crate a pattern that is balanced, in proportion, aesthetically pleasing and accurate to your initial vision. They will eventually form part of your tech pack and need exceptional levels of detail to allow the factory to make what you need.

Tech Packs in More Detail

Tech packs incorporate your technical illustrations and explain your garment in painstaking detail. Your technical illustration may originally be a front and back line drawing of your garment, however a tech pack will likely include interior illustrations of your design, in-depth explanations of details and much more. Including but not limited to fabric and trim research, graded sizing charts, specification sheet, detailed measurements, Pantone colours, clothing labels and swing ticket information. It is a key document to realising your vision.

Not only is it the blueprint for your garment, a tech pack also provides financial security when working with a factory. If the factory chooses to ignore any of the information outlined in the document and do their own things, they will be at fault. Should this situation arise you will be in a stronger position to ask for your money back or to seek legal support.

The more detail in this document, the less wiggle room there is for error. It also provides you with flexibility as you don’t need to commit to the production of the design. You could use your tech pack as a resource to purchase materials and trims and in future years you can refer to it or revisit a design from the archives.

Finally, it is important to note a tech pack is a working document. As you proceed through the phases of sampling and production, things may change. Measurements may need to be amended as you review fittings and once you see your design as a tangible garment, you may wish to move details such as pockets around, scale them up or down in size or abolish them all together. These changes will need to be incorporated into your tech pack and continually communicated between yourself and the factory.

Remember, both a technical illustration and a tech pack will need to be created for each product. For example, if you are creating a swimwear collection, you will need a separate flat and tech pack for a bikini top and a bikini bottom. These are separate garments in their own right with unique details to be explained.

If you have your own designs ready and need help taking them forward to present to manufacturers for quotes and production, you can view my technical services here, or simply get in touch.