12 LCF students from BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print recently took part in a competition using AVA; a specialist design, colour and print CAD software used to produce decorative print products. Students were asked to use the AVA software to create print designs against specific briefs.
We recently spoke with Joanna Cox and Zhilin Xing, winners for their respective projects, Verdant and Sense of Belonging. They shared the inspiration behind their work, how they used AVA in their design process, and the new skills they developed during the competition.
Joanna: AVA is a specialist software used by print and textile designers, with similar features to Adobe Photoshop however, tools like the ‘carbon copy from crop box’ and repeating with partial images allow easy repeats of designs. My favourite feature of learning how to use AVA is how easy it is to make specific colour separations and add ranges of colourways.
Zhilin: AVA is a professional print design software. Its clean and intuitive interface makes the learning process enjoyable and allows for a smooth workflow. During project development, AVA helps me refine my design more efficiently, and at times, even provides unexpected inspiration.
Joanna: We had timetabled classes, guiding us through the tools of the software, using our own design and sketchbook work to create repeating 32x32cm tiles. The aim was to create 2 designs, one which focused on colourways and clean colour separations and another which showed an interesting, repeated design.
Zhilin: In our classes, technicians helped with using AVA and its available tools. First, I selected some of my favourite design samples or mark-making elements from our projects and transformed these into seamless repeat patterns using AVA. Next, I separated and adjusted the colours to create various colour variations. In the final submission, I presented 2 designs, each with ten different colourways.
Joanna: My project is called ‘Verdant’. The main inspirations are organic bleeds of inks and watercolour, natural imagery of florals and mushrooms and a hand-painted, craft mood to the final collection. A key artist who has inspired me throughout the process is Emma Larsson. She works a lot with inks and has a wabi-sabi approach to the outcome, letting the colours blur and blend, creating a very organic sense of movement.
Zhilin: My project is called ‘Sense of Belonging’. It was inspired by my experience as an international student, my longing for my homeland, China, and the emotional journey of adapting to life in London.
I used group photos of my friends and me in London and stylized them into dot-based patterns using Adobe Photoshop. To recreate the organic folds of Chinese rice paper, I folded the fabric and then screen-printed the patterns onto it. By layering the design in 3 different colours, I created the initial design sample. After scanning the sample, I further developed it using AVA to finalise the design
Joanna: AVA has been very useful in translating my artworks into repeating digital prints. Advanced colour separations for my designs were essential, as they were tonal paintings, and the dropper tool allowed me to select the most saturated tones. Another one of the main tools that I used was ‘carbon copy from crop box’, which was especially useful for more textural designs. Using the downloaded layout template in preparation for the competition deadline was very simple, and I liked that I was able to change the scale and section of each colourway shown. I also used AVA to do 3D fashion visualisations on garments with my AVA designs; I found it useful that I was able to flick through the colourways on the body.
Zhilin: I used AVA to create seamless repeat patterns by importing my scanned design samples into the software. I then refined the layout and adjusted the repeats to ensure a smooth and continuous flow. AVA’s colour separation tools allowed me to experiment with different colour combinations, making it easy to create multiple colourways for my designs. The software’s precision and efficiency helped me develop my prints quickly while maintaining a professional-quality finish.
Joanna: The competition has allowed me to develop my digital design skills and knowledge about repeat designs. Once I knew the key tools in the software that I needed to use, AVA was very accessible and easy to navigate. The colourway feature is so key for a print designer, and it was really useful to see how the shades in my colour palette sat together in variations of the design. I am keen to continue using AVA for future projects and to develop my digital design skills!
Zhilin: The competition allowed me to gain hands-on experience using AVA for professional print design, particularly in creating seamless repeats and managing colour separations. I also learned how to develop a design from an initial concept to a fully realised product, while refining my ability to experiment with different colourways. Additionally, the competition helped me understand the importance of precision and efficiency in digital print design, skills that will be valuable in my future work.
Joanna and Zhilin won free fabric printing allowance for any of the fabrics in LCF’s digital print store, and an online course with AVA to develop their skills with the software.