At Erickson Outdoors, apparel design means more than simply arranging pretty shapes and colors on a piece of paper. It’s a matter of clearly articulating — through written, visual and tactile means — the many details required to bring your vision of a customized private label apparel product into reality. Our designers serve as both the co-creators and skilled interpreters of that vision.
But whether the inspiration comes from you or from us, design is an indispensable part of the process. And the more carefully and completely it’s done, the better the end result. Let’s say you want to create a jacket meant to serve at temperatures down to 30 degrees below zero. We put that intended function first as we think through the design details and apply our technical know-how to get it done right. Early in the design phase, we’ll also be thinking about how we’ll manufacture your product, so we don’t run into surprises later.
Our design brief (AKA the spec pack) pulls together all the specifications for your technical apparel project. We draw (or redraw) the pencil sketch in a computer program, so it’s highly detailed. We locate and include samples of the materials we’ll need — fabrics, buttons, zippers, etc. — and determine the colors for each. We propose a set of measurement specs for each component, from the sleeves to the neck circumference, to guide the pattern-making process. And we create a Bill of Materials that lists the types and quantities of all the materials required.
This package of specifications guides all the steps that follow — it’s like a roadmap for the project. Before the first sample is made, the design brief has to be complete. Once you approve it, it’s on to Phase 2: Development.
