We decided on a theme for our class; "The Life Aquatic". This theme could be interpreted any way we wanted, as long as it was reflected in the final design of the jacket. I decided on a WWII-era Navy theme, influenced by the uniforms and patches, as well as the colors of the sea and the grey of a battleship. Here is an inspiration board I put together to reflect the theme.
After settling on a theme, I got to work sketching designs in Illustrator. I find it easier to sketch in Illustrator, rather than by hand, since I can easily move design lines around without erasing and re-drawing, and I can block in and switch out colors more easily. I came up with five designs.
Ultimately, I decided on the second design, with a slight change to the back. I used a heavy synthetic fabric for the main shell fabric, and a brushed twill for the grey shell fabric. The front zipper is a heavy #10 metal tooth zipper. The jacket is lined with a lightweight twill and has a zippered inside pocket.
