WORLD-BUILDING WITH COSTUME DESIGN - NOV 2025
Advanced Costume Design for World-building, Illustration, and Concept Art!
Costume Design, an often overlooked and misunderstood element of world building, concept art, and illustration holds tremendous power and untapped potential that can be the difference between your design being overlooked and seamlessly transporting your viewer into your world with success and depth. Gaining autonomy over the skill of costume design will give you the agency to overcome feeling stuck in your design process or world building project, and unlock new ideas that will enrich and level up your ideas in ways you won't expect.
Join me in a 4 week intensive course diving deep into the subject of costume from all angles of design. Across a total of 8 high intensity assignments, you will be challenged to execute technical ideas, understand narrative direction, and be pushed to produce a large volume of design work which will set good habits in stone and pave the way for a more productive process for you and your projects. you will have 12 total 2 hour lectures where you will be exposed to the ideas, processes, and knowledge you need to push your work to the next level. Listed below is an overview of the 4 week structure.
WEEK 1: Story, coherence, shape design.
- Fixing detrimental story mistakes.
- Building clear narratives and strong cases.
- What do the shapes mean? More than you think!
Assignment:
- Compile 10 examples of successful costume design and break down why they are successful to the best of your ability.
- using just black and white, design 10 characters whose story/purpose is clear. (examples will be shown on the day of receiving the assignment)
WEEK 2: Structure, Material, Laying form on the body.
- Breaking through fundamental gaps in knowledge.
- Materials, are they really that challenging? (no)
- Understanding Volumes, forms, and stress on the figure.
Assignment:
- Break down the structure of 10 articles of clothing with notes on key function/movement traits.
- Take one character and sketch them in the prior chosen 10 articles of clothing (different poses).
WEEK 3: Research, Historical influence, World-building from scratch.
- Conquering research without overwhelm
- Building a complete historical understanding (context is everything!!!).
- True Originality and the pitfalls of chasing it
Assignment:
- Choose 3 eras of clothing (can be very broad or very specific) and research both the era and the clothing using skills learned in week 2, Resulting in 6 total pages of notes and sketches.
- Using your notes, design 6 pages of world-building sketches/designs that explores your interests and passions in a fun and carefree way.
WEEK 4 - Bullet Proof World-building processes, Having fun, Drawing
- How to think without thinking (flow state)
- Managing large projects and setting goals
- Getting good (actually)
Assignment:
- Look over the provided style guide for a group world-building project and start to list narrative opportunities that excite you, use these ideas to explore black and white character sketches set in the provided world. This will require all skills learned in the course so far.
- Work as a group to consult and bounce ideas around, then develop your own character design with a focus on costume and narrative set in the provided world building project.
Logistic info:
COURSE WILL BEGIN ON MONDAY THE 3RD OF NOV AND END ON THE 7TH OF DEC. (there will be a short break for American Thanksgiving)
Lectures will be on zoom from 1:00 - 3:30PM ET (NYC time) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (subject to change in the case of emergency)
Assignments will be given on Mondays and Wednesdays and Feedback will take place all day on Sundays (time slot system)
The community hub will be a discord server made specifically for the this course where you will post assignments, ask questions, and encourage each other to improve!
Additionally! The last week of the course will include a world building project of my creation in which every participant will work together to develop the project with each of your unique skills and tastes!
COURSE GOALS
world-building can seem complex, but when understood it can be simple and easily attainable. Costume design can seem simple, but its complexities are incredibly challenging to understand and execute. With these ideas in mind the goal of this course is to make the impossible possible through expanding your process and leveling up your mindset. Through the work of gaining practical skills and acquiring an ever expanding depth of knowledge, inventing new ideas and creating your projects will feel smooth and less confusing.
The goal of all of my courses is to give you access to the knowledge and skills that will unlock your autonomy in design and art-making. To me there is no greater joy than making ideas come to life, and it is my goal to grant you that opportunity!
Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions via DM on my instagram! https://www.instagram.com/cluelessgabriel/