Within fashion education, students are increasingly required to navigate complex projects using multiple creative software tools. However, many students struggle to determine which applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign etc, are most appropriate at different stages of their projects. Through my role as a technician and associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, I have observed that this uncertainty often leads to inefficient workflows, lost time and unnecessary frustration, particularly when students attempt to complete complex outputs, such as portfolios, in software that is not aligned with industry-standard practice. In this research, industry-standard practice refers to software that operates as a de facto global standard, established through widespread and sustained adoption across professional fashion and design practice, higher education, and global industry production workflows, rather than through formal regulation or regional preference. Market analyses indicate that Adobe Creative Cloud and its core applications (including Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) hold a substantial share of the global creative software market, with Adobe reported as the leading provider in this sector and its tools widely adopted across professional creative workflows (Straits Research, 2025; Exploding Topics, 2024).
This challenge is further compounded by the limited visual guidance provided in current unit handbooks, which are often written in academic language and do not clearly articulate digital workflows or professional software expectations. In professional fashion and design practice, software is selected strategically according to task and output rather than personal preference. In response to these recurring issues, this action research project explores the development of Digital Journeys, a visually designed learning resource intended to clarify creative software workflows and support students’ confidence and decision-making in ways that better reflect industry-standard practice in the UK fashion sector.
How can a visually designed digital learning resource clarify creative software workflows and support students’ understanding, confidence, and decision-making in fashion education?
This project is guided by the research question:
How can a visually designed digital learning resource clarify creative software workflows and support students’ understanding, confidence, and decision-making in fashion education?
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