The brief for this project was to design a Hawaiian shirt that was consistent with the general theme and spirit of the garment. We were instructed to create a shirt which featured buttons, a company logo tag and a unique pattern.

Throughout this process, Adobe Illustrator was used as the primary tool to develop this design. I also used a variety of references from image searches on sites such as unsplash.com & google.com

I wanted to create a character for my company that was inspired by traditional Hawaiian shirt prints. I researched the iconography, shape, styles and overall aesthetics of the genre using Google and found a number of reference photos to form the basis of my composition. 

1. I placed my reference into illustrator, locked it in place and started tracing the main components of the shirt. 

2. I refined the lines using the pencil smoothing tool throughout the process and placed the layers in the correct order. 

3. I hid the tracing layer once the tracing was completed and made additional adjustments to the shape of the Hawaiian Shirt. I added a light layer, changed the blending mode and placed it on the inside of the shirt to create a worn / washed affect on the interior material.  I used the width adjustment tool to fine tune some of the lines on the shirt to create more variety in the image. 

4. I then developed my artwork based on the reference images, using a variety of techniques and shapes to achieved the desired result. 

5. Once I was satisfied with my artwork, I used the pattern-making tool to create an adequately tiled pattern for the shirt. I decided to go with a hex by column pattern and  adjusted the spacing and overlap multiple times until the pattern was small enough for the shirt. 

6. I applied this pattern to various components of my shirt and placed the layers in the correct order. I rotated these patterns to ensure the patter achieved enough of an offset to make it look more realistic. 

7. I used a combination of the pen and the pencil tool to draw shapes for shadows, I changed the blending mode to soft light, applied a Gaussian blur and then duplicated the layers and adjusted the opacities until I achieved my desired results. 

8. Next, for the buttons I used the ellipse tool and a radial gradient to make the initial form. I adjusted the colours and placement of each of the colours in the gradient panel to create a greater sense of depth. I also used the shape builder tool to remove four cut outs for the button and added a slight drop shadow to the background in order to create even more depth. I then created the stitching using a series of duplicated shapes that were created with the line tool and adjusted using the stroke panel. 

9. I was happy with my pattern, but no Hawaiian shirt could be complete without an iconic logo. I named my company the Feelin’ Lucky Shirting Company as I had at that point decided to call my main character in the artwork Mr.Lucky. I thought the consistency of the name and brand identity was important in crafting my design but I also wanted to bring in a new design element so I used a shamrock for the logo. 

10. I created my label by adjusting the placement of my elements and using a linen font I found online to create texture. I adjusted the blending modes on each of the layers so that the texture of the fabric was more apparent.

11. I organised my elements and placed them at the bottom of my document, named my artwork and prepared everything for final export. 

I like that this project allowed me to apply some of the practical skills that we covered in class. Although it was challenging at times, I'm glad I was able to work through some of these headaches and produce a unique design that I'm happy with. If I was to restart this project, I'd probably select a more interesting colour scheme, I went with a safe option that would look consistent, but I think I could have achieved a completely different vibe by adjusting the colours and gradients.