NAVIGATION
Twenty-Four-Hour Fashion 99. Rapid Prototyping:
Reality shows such as Project Runway and proj
ects such as the 24-Hour Filmmaking Festival
are good examples of popular "sink or swim"
enterprises. Be warned, however, that condens
ing the time allowed for a project to be executed
can produce both brilliant and disastrous results.
As entertainment, it might be fun to observe
the praise and the pitfalls, but in the real world,
this could correlate to the beginning or end of a
career. Working in the fashion industry doesn't
always mean running at breakneck speeds, but
it does demand that creatives be able to make
smart decisions in crisis mode.
Not everyone is cut out for it, so it's important
to impose time-sensitive challenges to test for
vulnerabilities. These are great opportunities to
learn how to anticipate and avoid the kinds of
things that have the potential to derail the design
process. Situations in which speed impedes the
process and threatens to thwart creativity are
ideal occasions in which to consider the skills
that still need to be honed; immediate situation
assessment, quick decision making, efficient
application of techniques, fast problem solving,
and/o r creative resourcefulness.
Some designers thrive on the stress of tight,
and sometimes unrealistic, deadlines. Rapid-fire
fashion design relies heavily on instinct and ex
perience. Beyond crossing the finish line, success
under these conditions should also be measured
by how well executed the work is, and how
clearly the designer's vision is perceived. Speed
as a catalyst for good design is a difficult thing to
sustain. The rush of these pressure-cooker proj
ects may provide an addictive rush of adrenaline,
but that is hard to rely on.202 Fashion Design Essentials(uni)forms are designer/
artist Ying Gao's response
to the phrase "Speed kills
creativity." By using morphing
software, she was able
to generate new uniform
designs based on the origi na I
within seconds.Original 1940s German female worker's uniform� I
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