Focus Group - NTU students

10 students from BA (Hons.) Theatre Design – Nottingham Trent University

Asking a response to ‘what makes a good costume design illustrations?’ a general debate on the subject was started and key characteristics identified. Responses were recorded on a flip chart and the session ended with a summary of the discussion. Key issues which came from the discussion are précised below. All students were keen to input into the debate and the atmosphere was friendly and upbeat.

Detail was discussed as a key characteristic in particular the detail a costume maker would need to know to be able to make the costumes. In my research to date I have identified this type of detail as technical information. The students pointed out that the minimum requirement of a costume design is to be able to communicate colour and shape of the garments efficiently.

It was discussed that the characteristics of a design depended on whether the production was sourced or made. If was identified that different requirements would be needed in each situation. Too much detail in a production that was hired may hinder the costume supervisor in the restrictions that the costume designer insisted on through costume sketch.

‘What the director would want to see’ was also commented upon. The discussion around this point highlighted the roll of the costume design as a visual aid and, how the costume designer would need to take into consideration the needs of the director. They would need to communicate their vision in the best way they could to make the director understand their concepts and ideas.

An interesting discussion took place about the notion of costume design being a piece of art and in particular a student commented that she liked her work to demonstrate strong artistic skills. I asked her why she felt this way and she explained that she needed to feel proud of her design work to give her the confidence to present it to a director. A few other students agreed but did not feel this necessarily meant that the costume design needed to be beautifully and ‘artistically’ rendered but a designer should establish their own unique style. They felt this ‘style’ would help promote them as individuals as they would get recognised for its look. Another student commented that even though a costume designer should establish a unique style they still needed an element of flexibility to be able to communicate effectively the context of the production.

The overarching debate which dominated the discussion was that a costume design needed to communicate character more than anything else. They commented that a director, actors and the wardrobe personnel could all obtain a great deal of information from good communication of character in a costume illustration. It was also discussed that by communicating the character in the context of the piece by considering the style or genre helped convey more coherently the designer’s vision.