Tartan Design Feedback

[Tarheel]

Unlike many formal wedding gowns, this kilt can be worn again and again after the vows are given.

This is your big event though, so I would go with sample A. You'll wear the evidence (like a wedding band represents) of your wedding and can brag as people notice the tartan.

I like sample C for everyday use. The middle pattern seems a bit busy with smaller blocks of the greens and blues divided by the white lines.

[Todd Bradshaw]

Gee, maybe I can have a second (actually more like fifth) career as a highly-paid "tartoonist". It's a lot easier on your knees than building sails. My favorite changes from minute to minute, but seeing them in context like this I kind of like C best. A is obviously the boldest. C is a bit more subtle, kind of like my Strathisla kilt, where from a distance you see a dark kilt with a light overcheck. Then when you get closer you start to see the complexity underneath, and B strikes me as being somewhere in the middle. Sett sizes are guestimated and may not be entirely accurate.

[Lady Grey]

Thanks to Todd I voted C
I just like it

[Holcombe Thomas]

I have to agree. Thanks to Todd's pictures, I like C. But, you won't go wrong with any of the designs.

Holcombe

[OC Richard]

What's a relief to my eye is that both your designs are attenuated, with broad expanses and narrow linework.

This was common, I think, in the old days. Most tartans designed nowadays strike me as being overly bulky.

I voted for A. I think it's the best-balanced.

All three are miles better than the vast majority of the ungainly ill-balanced clumsy stuff I see people designing nowadays.

[TheOfficialBren]

Thank you, my friends, for your kind words and your feedback. I know that this is one of the best places to come for opinions with regard to all things tartan.

The first one was my first attempt at designing a tartan. Designs B and C were my attempts to play with more intricate designs.

Do any of you gentlemen think that pleating any of these to the stripe would look good? I've only owned kilts pleated to the strip and I quite like it.

Thank you very much, gentlemen.

EDITED TO ADD:
Am I getting the gist of tartan design? Should I modify either A or C in any way or leave them as-is? I might want to have the final design woven with a large sett. On Scotweb's tartan designer each sett is about 7". Not sure if I want to go larger or keep the current size. Thoughts? Thank you.

[Kiltedjohn]

I voted for C. Can't make any learned comments (!), but I found the balance of colours very attractive.

[OC Richard]

Am I getting the gist of tartan design?

Seems to me you're doing just fine.

Peter is the one to ask though. He's a weaver and has examined many early tartans in person.

I'm just an American learning as best I can from secondary sources.

So take this with a grain of salt, but in my opinion tartan design is design, and good tartan design is good design. Study 2-dimensional design at any college and it's all clear, basic stuff like The Rule Of 3rds, The Golden Mean, and so on. Attractive tartans, and ancient Greek buildings, and traditional landscape paintings, and the phone you hold in your hand are all designed using the same principles.

Now, weavers might not realise that when they're designing a tartan the proportions they're using are universal, but it stands out like a sore thumb when people go about designing tartans on their computer, and come up with clumsy ill-proportioned designs which violate these universals.

Your designs are rather attenuated; any more and they might be too diffuse.

You could, if you wish, experiment with bulking up your designs a bit, and see if they become a bit stronger. I think your designs are fine as they stand, and a relief to the eye after seeing so many modern designs which are too chunky and congested.

What might not be as universal are some of the traditional tartan design motifs one sees over and over such as three stripes going narrow-broad-narrow or the reverse, or four stripes going narrow-broad-broad-narrow or the reverse.

BTW a fun way to experiment with pure design is to limit yourself to two colours, and see how attractive and interesting you can make it. Many's the weak design that looks attractive due to effective use of colour.

Here's a couple of my 2-colour experiments