Melissa Leapman's Professional Development Summit for Designers

In this 2 hour workshop, veteran industry photographer Gale Zucker shares her expertise in shooting and editing photographs to help sell your products and up your social media game. Learn which easy--and fun!--apps you can use to improve even your best shots!

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Concept, execution, and communication are all vital parts of design, and each aspect requires a certain skill set. Learn how to take a great idea from thought, to action, and then on to sharing with others. Edie's perspective on the design process will make you a more efficient , well-rounded, and successful designer. 

 Author of more than a dozen knitting books and publisher of over 75 other books through her company Cooperative Press, Shannon Okey knows a little something about getting published! Whether you want to self-publish or submit to a publisher, she'll teach you how to organize your materials, get ready to draft proposals (or even full-blown books), and will talk about the legal, financial, and other aspects of publishing that are often not public. No matter what you want to publish, Shannon can help you get it there! 

 So, you’ve designed a great piece, and now it’s time to write up the pattern to share. Whether you want to self-publish or submit to a publication, this class will show you how to write up clear and easy-to-follow patterns that work for any crafter. Kate will review all the key information you need to provide, and discuss strategies for assessing difficulty level and making sure your instructions address the skill level of those using it. We’ll have a candid conversation about grading and the benefits and challenges of creating an inclusive size range. Most important, Kate, tech editor extraordinaire, will share her three key tricks to make sure both knitters and editors love you! 

Did you know that your business could be missing out on 2/3rds of its potential market? Size inclusion is a hot topic in the industry, but what does “inclusive sizing” really mean, and why should it matter to your business? We'll take a hard look at who is being excluded and why, and how your business can serve mostly-ignored and underserved markets. 

Walk away with tools to start building an inclusive size range and strategies for designing for a variety of bodies.

Class Topics Include:

- ways to think more inclusively about design
- important resources for gathering sizing data 
- how to communicate choosing a size for best fit

- building a body size chart for design, and how that can be a helpful tool for your makers

- strategies for how to be more inclusive in your marketing

- sketching tools and how to use them to visualize fit on different bodies

 Learn how to make pattern grading in any size range repeatable and relatively straightforward. You'll be able to set a size range, set the grade between sizes at various places, and then reuse that table for every design.  Jill's expert technique allows for multiple size tables and several types of sizing. This illuminating session will discuss resources, spread sheets, and an introduction to application. More sizes equal more pattern sales!

  Collaborations can definitely add to your bottom line. In this session, learn how to set workable parameters for everything you do to assure that everyone gets what they need for a successful project, from yarnies to sample knitters to tech editors. We'll discuss deadlines, responsibilities, money, resources, and more. Working together makes every project better!

  As a designer you want to be creative, but chances are you don't want to spend your entire day doing calculations. If you aren't using spreadsheets to do the bulk of your design math, you are spending WAY too much time mathing. Whether you use Excel, Google Sheets, or something else, taking the time to set up formulas on a spreadsheet is well worth the effort. With this easy method, you can do your initial calculations, then go back and do a preliminary check before sending your pattern off to a tech editor. Save time and improve accuracy by letting the computer do the work!

Knitter and blogger Gaye Glasspie, the iconic orange lady behind her popular @ggmadeit accounts, shares her thoughts about social media in this session. Learn the top 3 things she says you must do to be social: show up, respond, and share. Make your "social life" fun, interesting, and effective with a master! Spend an hour with a warm, welcoming, and smart woman who will bring you joy and give you tools to transform your social media.

 Yikes. There are so many ways to trip up when you're a knitting designer: trademark disputes, unintelligible contracts, the dreaded C word (c*py*rig*t), social media brouhahas, and more. We'll talk about the biggest gaffes and mistakes that can unravel your hard work as a knitting professional. Bring your questions (keeping in mind that, although an attorney, your brilliant teacher can't give legal advice). 

 Beginning with Pantone colors and fashion trend palettes, Trisha Malcolm, the editor in chief of Vogue Knitting Magazine for nearly two decades, walks us through the colors and fashion trends that shaped the global Fashion Week shows for Fall/Winter 2021, with a particular emphasis on knitwear. We will journey through trends in general, silhouettes, colorwork, interesting stitchery and texture, and crochet. Nothing like learning from the absolute expert in the field!

Artist and teacher Carrie Bloomston has been a maker since the age of two. (That's if wrapping yourself up in your mother's needlepoint yarn counts.) For one special hour, delight in a upbeat conversation about creativity and where to find it, how to guard the creative process, discover great color and design inspiration in unexpected places, and more. Let your creative spark change your life!

 Learn the professional secrets of marketing your designs--and yourself!--in this class. Francoise Danoy, the genius behind Aroha Knits will show you how to create a launch and will teach you to use a content calendar to help organize your marketing messages. You'll save time and STILL be productive!

Want to take your patterns to the next level? Combine a standard body measurement chart with simple yet smart common fit modifications, and watch your designs fit beautifully on every body. Putting guides, worksheets, and tutorials to work, we'll develop new strategies to make customized, inclusive fit an essential and everyday part of your pattern-making process.

Class Topics Include:

- creating body measurement chart + size chart to show you how to envision the garment fit on different bodies

- building fit worksheets 

- creating photo or video tutorials to help makers visualize fit on their body

- using tutorials from other sites (with credit)

- fully conveying fit information, including how your garment fits your model and testers

Need some balance? (Who doesn't?) Industry expert Jill Wolcott shares exercises and stories to help you learn to balance your personal teeter-totter. (I've got one; do you?) Find ways to get what you want, do what you need, and live a creative life. Take control and make your life truly yours!  

Would you like to see your byline in print? Do you dream of getting paid to do freelance designs for national crafts publications? Trisha Malcolm, the amazing former editor-in-chief of Vogue Knitting Magazine, discusses how to submit your ideas to attract the editor's attention and get published. You can make money doing what you love.

 Have you found you can't do it all? Learn how to establish relationships with sample knitters and/or test knitters (there's a difference!) to help you meet your creative goals.  In this fact-filled session, we'll discuss parameters and deadlines, brainstorm ideas for effective interactions, and better, more successful products.

Just ask Francoise Danoy, the mind behind Aroha Knits: Having a consistent and cohesive brand is key to successful marketing. Let's delve into the ins and outs of determining your brand colors, fonts, vocabulary, imagery, and logo.  

Make your business as unique as you are!

 Carol has been teaching this class in various forms for over 10 years and is still not tired of it! Why? Because yarns get discontinued, customers demand substitution advice, and designers need to pick the right yarn. This class will lay out the basics of yarn substitution. We'll start by reviewing the characteristics of different types of fiber -- wool, cotton, alpaca, rayon, and more. We'll then discuss how yarns are organized into categories based on gauge, yards per unit of weight, and needle size. We'll finish by walking through an actual yarn substitution, applying what we've learned in the earlier part of the class. You'll leave this class empowered to make the right choices for your projects.

 Technical editors provide a crucial service to designers and pattern writers. We’ll talk about the value a technical editor brings to the pattern creation and publishing process, what services and support they can offer to help you make your work its absolute best. We’ll talk about the process of editing – including when it should be done, and how it relates to and supports test and sample knitting. And most importantly, pro tech editor Kate will share her expert tips for making it easy and fun for both designer and editor. You're welcome.

Join social media expert Gaye Glasspie of @ggmadeit for a fun and thoughtful hour to learn how to create an authentic brand by telling your personal story. Spend an hour with the master to learn how to genuinely share in a welcoming and inclusive way. After all, your brand is YOU!

Whether pastel or bright, bashful or bold, color always tells a story.  As any artist or designer will tell you, color study is a never-ending, life-long process. In this session, we'll review basic color theory and learn how to create exciting color stories. We'll also discuss resources and inspirations to help invigorate your designer mind and your offerings.

In this session, Marie Greene, the gifted creator of Knit Camp, author of several knitting books, and leader of popular knitalongs, generously shares her best tips and tricks on finding and building a devoted audience. See how a life long commitment to all-things-creative can change your life and focus your design direction.

NOTE: This session will be pre-recorded and will be shown once. 

Before you can grab a knitter's attention, you must get the publisher's attention. This one-hour presentation will demystify the entire process, from query to proposals. Learn how to write a persuasive marketing comparison, a powerful bio, and push-pull to get what you want in the negotiation process from a bestselling craft book author. Join us as host Melissa Leapman brings our amazing professional development summit to conclusion.