CAD Illustrators Directory

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer systems — workstations — to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. CAD software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing. This directory collects the fashion artists and design studios offering CAD illustrations and CAD illustrating services to the clothing industry.

Two Apparel Search resources frame the specialty: the CAD Services directory for service providers, and the CAD Software guide for the programs themselves. CAD design illustrators may have the talent to create fashion relevant images and designs using the traditional hand skills of drawing and painting, but they also use CAD packages to scan images and change size, colors and other elements — which is why a CAD illustrator can show a buyer ten colorways of a print in the time a hand sketch shows one.

Fashion CAD illustrator workstation with digital garment flat drawings on a large monitor, a graphics tablet and printed tech sketches, with an Apparel Search studio sign in the center background

Fashion artist resources:
Fashion Design Guide Fashion Illustrators Graphic Designers Technical Fashion Drawing 3D Modeling Fashion Design Tools

CAD Illustration Services

Design Principles, LLC

Design Principles, LLC is a full package apparel and accessories development and production solution to the fashion industry. They specialize in working with start-ups to medium size clothing and accessories brands for all markets and price points. Their joint team of apparel industry professionals encompasses over 50 years of working knowledge from brand development to manufacturing, and they have built their reputation on accurate cost estimates, fast turnarounds and affordable production.

Their services include CAD illustrations, clothing line cost estimates, design concept sketches (colorized with fabric and trim samples), fabric and trim sourcing, garment samples, grading and marker making, manufacturer sourcing (domestic and international), merchandising, pattern making, sales representation, small run production, tech packs, technical drawings, trend and line illustration boards, website development and wardrobe styling.

Address: 1914 Cordova Road #107, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 | Phone: (727) 488-8162 | Fax: (954) 756-7325 | Email: lance@thedesignprinciples.com | Contact: Lance Gordon

Why Brands Hire CAD Illustrators

A CAD illustration is working artwork, not decoration. It is the image a merchant approves, a factory prices from, and a sales team presents before a sample exists. Because the file is digital, a print can be recolored, a stripe can be re-scaled, and a style can be shown across a full size or color range without redrawing — the same flexibility that makes CAD central to textile design software and fashion design software workflows.

Studios offering CAD work usually sit inside the wider design process: concept sketches and trend boards at the front, patterns, tech packs and samples behind them. Companies comparing providers can browse the neighboring specialties in the navstrip above — illustrators for hand-drawn artwork, technical drawing specialists for production flats — and the software directories in More to Explore for the tools the illustrators use.

Photos

Fashion design work at a computer — the workstation where CAD illustrations, colorways and print repeats are built and revised.

Common Questions

What is CAD in fashion design?

Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computer systems to aid in the creation, modification, analysis or optimization of a design. CAD software increases the productivity of the designer, improves the quality of design, improves communications through documentation, and creates a database for manufacturing.

What does a CAD illustrator do?

CAD illustrators think creatively and use imagination to produce new ideas. Many can create fashion images with traditional hand skills of drawing and painting, and also use CAD packages to scan images and change size, colors and other elements — producing colorways, repeats and presentation artwork quickly.

What services sit alongside CAD illustration?

Studios commonly pair CAD illustrations with design concept sketches, pattern making, grading and marker making, tech packs, technical drawings, fabric and trim sourcing, garment samples and small run production, so one team can carry a style from sketch to sample.