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Designing Tartans - Ideas and Advice
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A tartan, when woven, should of course be aesthetically pleasing. This introduces considerations such as colour balance, or complementarity of shading (i.e. avoiding clashes) and symmetry, balance, and proportionality. Tartans are identified by the number of threads in each colour band when woven. This is the number that is adjusted in the ‘Arrange’ part of our (More...)
Tartan carries meaning far beyond most fabrics. Its design elements typically signify the interests or allegiance of the wearer (with the exception of what are often terms ‘fashion tartans’ that are chosen only for their use of colours that are in vogue at the time). Most older tartans would represent a Scottish clan, or a family, (More...)
Expert help with improving your tartan design
If you intend to have your tartan design woven to be made into products, we offer an Expert Tartan Design Review service. We particularly recommend this service if you are intend to record your tartan design officially for posterity, as the Scottish Register of Tartans aims to uphold traditional standards in the registrations it approves. The (More...)