The Exit Interview: An in-Depth Look at the Costume Design Process

Costume design is the art of putting clothing on an actor for a specific purpose. It causes a feeling and a reaction from the audience as soon as they see it. It helps the audience easily identify who this person is and what their social and economical status is. It creates a defined world in which the characters live. Using a certain grouping of colors, textures and style creates this world. There is a lot of psychology behind costume design. It is important to understand how color, texture and line effects the way someone interprets a person based on clothes. In my design process of The Exit Interview, I had to really get to know the characters so that I could dress them appropriately, both to make them fit in the defined world that was decided upon, and to help the audience quickly and easily understand who the characters were when they walked on stage. Through my process I learned a lot about the importance of this aspect, while also making design choices I felt matched the artistic direction of the show. It was then a whole new learning experience when the show transitioned from design on paper, to design in real life. It creates a whole new set of challenges to turn a drawing into a real piece of clothing that the actor can wear and still have it fit in the world created. I learned a lot through this process and upon reflection, there are things that I would have liked to do differently, things I will take away from this experience and use in the future to make my design process for the next show even better