Talking Threads: Costume Design for Entertainment Art

Costume design is storytelling. And to do it successfully, you need to understand the five functions of a costume: to connect to plot and theme, establish the structure of society, put in a specific time and place, indicate personality, and reveal a passage of time. It is an exciting and challenging craft that involves a thoughtful and thorough examination of these various elements in order to give a costume life. In animation, games, and illustration, in particular, the designer needs to be acutely aware of the unique characteristics and limitations of each medium ― from solid research approaches and basic production pipelines to audience experience and ideal tools of the trade. 

Talking Threads: Costume Design for Entertainment Art, backed by decades of experience of five industry professionals, provides an in-depth exploration of these functions and format considerations to equip artists with the necessary knowledge and mindset to develop strong narrative-informed costume designs. Each chapter is packed with creative exercises, detailed tutorials, inspiring designs, and invaluable insights that will help artists of all levels confidently and efficiently tackle their next costume adventure.

About the Authors:

Jessie Kate is a design mentor. With her background working with her father, a master craftsman and furniture designer, she gained experience with complex creative problem-solving. Her mother's musical focus nurtured a love of entertainment, and Jessie Kate combined the two influences to choose a path in entertainment design. Her past experience includes freelance design, educational program design, production coordination for TV animation, creative direction for startups, and indie project development. When she brought her curiosity and analytical approach to the animation industry and found a gap in costume-design education, Jessie Kate decided to fill the void by gathering a team of specialists to create this book. She specializes in using personality psychology to develop authentic character arcs and immersive costume designs, guiding her mentees through narrative analysis, practical research methodology, and concept development.Jessie Kate co-instructs History of Fashion at ArtCenter College of Design with Gwyn Conaway.

Gwyn Conaway is a member of the Costume Designers Guild Local 892. She's a costume designer, fashion historian, and culture specialist living in southern California. Although she works primarily in historical and dramatic film, Gwyn also consults on costume simulation for major animation and gaming studios. She specializes in Marvelous Designer and garment model fit.Considered an authority on the intersection between clothing and social psychology, Gwyn is on the cutting edge of how the entertainment industry thinks about costume and culture as a visual language. She is often called upon to design and consult for conceptual projects in post-apocalyptic and fantasy settings. Conaway is on the faculty at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. Her course, History of Fashion, is the first of its kind. Geared directly towards entertainment design students, the class explores Gwyn's burgeoning expertise: building cultures for film, television, and gaming from the ground up.

Rebecca Black-Gliko descends from a long line of quilters and has been sewing in some form or another since a very young age. Her devotion to learning led to a degree in illustration as well as studying abroad in Japan and New Zealand. Beki has worked for Laika Studios on the films Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link in both the rapid prototype and costume departments. Living in Oregon with her husband, Raul Ramos, she continues to work on projects that explore and combine a variety of mediums. She is currently working on a stop-motion graphic novel, Oni-san, that combines her love of animation, illustration, and stop-motion. Beki enjoys the challenge of translating a design on paper into a functional final product--whether the end result is digital or physical--and choosing the format that best translates the intentions of the narrative.

Maria Kercher is a visual development artist specializing in material behavior and cultural stylization for animation. She has also worked in design for indie games and illustration for live-action films. Born and raised in Brazil, Maria visited the opera and ballet frequently and participated in dance and figure skating competitions, nurturing a fascination with how costumes are used to enhance performance. Through figure skating, she gained an interest in how countries or people can be represented through simplified shapes, colors, movement, and music. Learning to sew from her mother, she began exploring her fascination through fashion.When her father introduced her to US animation, Maria fell in love with the idea of breathing life into a fictional world and came to the US to study animation. Now based in Seattle, Washington, she is focused on expanding her knowledge of materials and world cultures to better connect audiences to each other.

Blythe Russo is an illustrator and puppet builder living in Ohio. She earned a master's in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design and is an active member and supporter of the Kidlit community. Blythe made her debut as a children's book illustrator with the counting book, One More Wheel (Macmillan/August 2019). Her favorite stories to tell are those of friendship--that give the reader both the giggles and the warm fuzzies.As a self-taught puppet-builder, she has worked as the lead puppet builder for Madcap Puppets. She has designed and fabricated pieces for a variety of their shows, including The Case of the Kidnapped Backpack, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Pinocchio. She's also been known to teach a puppet-building class every so often.