Basic Design, a Needed Foundation for Designing a Successful Garment: A Case Study of Dressmakers in the Ho Municipality, Volta Region, Ghana

Abstract

To facilitate the design process in every art form, there are certain guidelines that all professional designers should use. These are known as elements and principles of design. This study is a survey carried out to assess the knowledge of dressmakers about basic design in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. Sixty dressmakers were randomly sampled for the study. A combination of questionnaires and purposive interview were used to collect data for analysis. It was found out that all the dressmakers had an idea about only one element of design, which is, line. Lack of formal education in fashion design was a major contributive factor to their knowledge deficit. The study concludes that, basic design has a positive impact on the designer’s performance and therefore serves as an important tool used to attain competitive advantage in the fashion design industry.

Keywords: Dressmaker, fashion designer, design, basic design, design element, design principles