For the Business of Apparel Decorating
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58 || P R I N T W E A R S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 Multitasking Creating multimedia rhinestone transfers B Y V E R O N I C A V A R G A S [1] Vector art from your customer. (All images courtesy VS Rhine- stones) [2] What your design will look like in wire frame with good, clean-cut lines for the two layers. [3] What the graphic will look like when you determine the path of the rhinestones. [4] Following the in- structions outlined here, this is what the finished design will look like. 1 3 4 2 I t seems as though hotfix rhine- stone transfers never go out of style. Instead, they just morph and become more elaborate as time goes on. Really, who doesn't like a little glimmer or sparkle in their life? The latest craze seems to be multimedia transfer designs. What does multimedia mean? Multimedia simply means that a transfer is made of two different materials. For example, a transfer can be outlined with rhinestones, and the fill or detail of the transfer can be filled with easy weed or glitter heat transfer vinyl. It could also be a combination of hotfix sequin and rhinestones or hotfix sequins with vinyl. You can continue to mix whatever hot- fix material you like and add more layers such as sublimation or foil. The options are as limitless as your imagination. Now, you may be wondering, what does this mean to you? For your end users, it is always great to have the latest and greatest styles to sport at your favorite event. As a decorator, it is an easy way to upsell your products. It can take a little ex- tra drawing time to accomplish these looks, but it will be well worth it in the end because customers will seek you out so they can stand out from the rest. PLAY BY PLAY OK, so now that we have the expla- nations out of the way, how can you add this service for your customer base? Start with some sort of industry standard drawing software, such as Corel- Draw or Adobe Photoshop. This is im- portant because with multimedia designs you will be working with layers. The only way to truly layer appropriately is to have it all drawn out in design software that shows specific drawing lines. This will en- sure that your finalized design will be laid out perfectly for pressing. What type of artwork do you need to start the process? We always ask for lay- ered vector art. You can work from a clean JPEG or PNG file, but it will only add to the process because you will ultimately have to vectorize the art. If you must con- vert the artwork sent to a vector format, don't forget to charge for your time. When asking for artwork, you can also request it in an AI, EPS, SVG, or PDF format. Nor- mally, all these formats work perfectly for drawing out your design. continued on page 79 Veronica Vargas is a co-owner of VS Rhinestone Designs, an e-commerce business. Vargas has been working in the apparel decorating industry for more than 10 years. Her knowledge of the business morphs with the industry keeping up with the latest trend demands. Var- gas and her business partner Stephanie Wells are cur- rently work with dance companies, cheer companies and faith-based companies to expand their service offering.