Teaching Costume Design and Costume Rendering: A Guide for Theatre and Performance Educators clarifies the teaching process for Costume Design and Costume Rendering courses and offers a clear and tested path to success in the classroom. Drawing on the knowledge and experience of the author’s twenty-five years of teaching as well as many decades of work by multiple other educators, this book provides a clear roadmap for teaching these two popular Theatre courses. It includes information on pedagogical theory, creating syllabi, preparing and structuring classes, crafting lectures, and analyzing students’ work, with a heavy focus on specific teaching projects that have been proven to work in the classroom. All aspects of teaching costume design and rendering are considered, including body awareness, cultural sensitivities, script analysis, elements and principles of design, psychology of dress, choosing fabrics, period styling, and requirements of dance costumes. Included in the appendices are sample syllabi, and additional reading and research resources. Teaching Costume Design and Costume Rendering is a guide for theatre and performance educators ranging from secondary education to undergraduate programs and graduate studies. It is a valuable resource both for costume educators approaching costume design and rendering classes for the first time and for experienced instructors looking for new material for these courses.

Digital Costume Design and Collaboration gives in-depth instruction on how to draw, render, and fully design costumes using online tools and software. Grounded in the use of Photoshop, the book explains the process of building a costume design from scratch, including information on digital tools and painting techniques. The book demonstrates how to utilize social media, such as Flickr and Pinterest, to compile research; how to create user-friendly web based slide shows; and how to archive digital files for portfolios and personal websites. It also demonstrates how to organize spec sheets, plots and inventories using Google Docs for easy editing and Dropbox for easy file sharing. A companion YouTube channel featuring video tutorials of exercises and applications compliments the book.

In The Art and Practice of Costume Design, a panel of seven designers offer a new multi-sided look at the current state and practice of theatrical costume design. Beginning with an exploration of the role of a Costume Designer, the subsequent chapters analyse and explore the psychology of dress, the principles and elements of design, how to create costume renderings, and collaboration within the production. The book also takes a look at the costume shop and the role of the designer within it, and costume design careers within theatrical and fashion industries.

Costume Design: The Basics provides an overview of the fundamental principles of theatrical costume design, from pre-production through opening night. Beginning with a discussion of what is costume design, why do people wear clothes, and what is the role of the costume designer, this book makes accessible the art and practice of costume design. Peppered with interviews with working costume designers, it provides an understanding of what it means to be a costume designer and offers a strong foundation for additional study. Readers will learn: How to use clues from the script to decipher a character’s wardrobe Methods used to sketch ideas using traditional or digital media How to discuss a concept with a team of directors, producers, and designers Strategies to use when collaborating with a professional costume shop How to maintain a healthy work/life balance Courses of action when working under a limited money and labor budget. Costume Design: The Basics is an ideal starting point for aspiring designers looking for ways to achieve the best costumes on stage and realize their vision into a visual story told through clothing.

For theatre, film, television, entertainment or fashion design, Digital Costume Design & Rendering will help you master digital tools to increase productivity and creativity. Using Corel Painter or Adobe Photoshop, author Annie Cleveland's years of professional experience as a costume designer and a teacher will quickly immerse you in the world of digital costume design. Written by a costume designer for costume and fashion designers, this definitive, how-to guide takes you from the basics of opening the program and exploring the workspace to working with color and layers. Selections and transformations are followed by working with patterns and then it's on to the finishing touches for your final design. Included as a bonus is a unique chapter on digital makeup design to complete your work.

Character Costume Figure Drawing is an essential guide that will improve your drawing skills and costume renderings. Step-by-step visuals illustrate the how-tos of drawing body parts, costumes, accessories, faces, children, and different character archetypes, such as maternal, elderly, sassy, sexy, and evil. By focusing on the foundations of drawing bodies, including body proportion, bone structure, body masses, facial expressions, and appendages, this guide shows you how to develop sketches from stick figures to full-blown characters. The third edition features a new chapter, Digital Mixed Media Costume Rendering. This chapter introduces the basic usages of Photoshop tools to enhance and improve costume designs, in order to provide easy delivery design ideas to the director and design team, provide easy changes and alterations during the design process, virtually apply actual fabric swatches over costume sketches, and help visualize lighting effects.

The Costume Designer’s Toolkit explores the wide-ranging skills required to design costumes for live performance in theatre, dance, opera, and themed entertainment. Arranged in chronological order to create a design, each chapter describes tools, strategies, and techniques costume designers use to create lively and believable characters within a story environment. The book provides a step-by-step outline of the costume design process beginning with developing as an artist and creating an artistic vision for a script. It covers a wide range of topics, including: Assessing the scope of a production Understanding design thinking and the creative process Project management and budget forecasting Collaborating with and leading creative teams Current practices in costume rendering and communication Mixing purchased, rented, stock, and built costumes to form a design Designing a garment with impact Fitting costumes on performers Combining grit and grace for a successful career Each topic includes case studies and tips from experienced professionals, identifies vital skills, describes techniques, and reveals the essential elements of artistic leadership, collaboration, and cultural acumen. The Costume Designer’s Toolkit is the perfect guidebook for the student, aspiring, or early-career costume designer, to be used alone or in costume design university courses.