21.7 MY FIRST DESIGN

As designing can be a complex process, this help file will help orient you with all the commands required to prepare a new design. As the main focus here is syntax, be sure to read through relevant helpfiles that outline the rules and requirements of designing as well: HELP DESIGNS and HELP HOW TO DESIGN. It is also recommended to preview some completed designs for examples of how to write the fields.

The following tradeskils support custom designs: Artisan, Bookbinding, Cooking, Forging, Jewellery, Tailoring, and Tattoos. 

All commands that you need for designing are confined to the DESIGN command. This will show you a shortened version of commands if you are not a Trademaster yourself, see DESIGN ALL for the full list.

This guide will follow the creation of a Tailoring design for the cartel Apparel of the Fates (short name: godthreads).

1. Cartel Membership

First, you need to be a member of a cartel to be able to prepare new designs. If you are a member of a city or a commune and possess one of the trade skills that supports custom designs, then you are automatically a member of your nation's cartel for that tradeskill. You can also join and form private cartels yourself. To check your cartel memberships see: CARTELS. You will need to be using the short name of the cartel, shown in parentheses, for designing.

2. Choosing a Pattern

First, you have to choose the pattern you wish to follow. Patterns are the types of items that a tradeskill can create.

DESIGN PATTERNS TAILORING        - to see the full list, we want pattern 42
DESIGN PATTERN 42                - to review pattern 42
DESIGN REQUEST 42 FOR GODTHREADS - to request pattern 42 for cartel Godthreads

This will create a new design following the requested pattern and return the number of this new design. For example: 'You create a design for a plain grey cloak (38740).' We will be using that design number going forward as our example.

Before you design, decide if the design should be cartel-specific or public. Cartel-specific designs can only be crafted by members of that cartel while public designs are available to everyone. Cartel-specific designs costs 5000 gold for their exclusivity (on submission) but nation-affiliated cartels may choose to cover this expense. If you wish for your design to be public, you do not have to change anything. If you wish to make your design cartel-specific: 

DESIGN 38740 MAKECARTEL

3. Designing

Now you should preview your new design to review which fields you need to fill out. Most patterns for a given trade are very similar but some do have custom fields. Most of the fields at the top of a design are informative and cannot be changed. Review the fields and start filling them out:

DESIGN 38740             - preview the design to see the fields you need     
DESIGN 38740 APPEARANCE  - this is where you give the item its name
DESIGN 38740 DROPPED     - this is where you describe what the item looks like when dropped
DESIGN 38740 EXAMINED    - this will take you into the editor, enter your item's description

Example:
DESIGN 38740 APPEARANCE a long silken cloak of sunset hues 
DESIGN 38740 DROPPED A long silken cloak of sunset hues has been discarded here.
DESIGN 38740 EXAMINED This cloak has been sewn from high quality silk and is long enough to reach the ground when worn. The fabric has been dyed the colours of sunset, with crimson cascading over the shoulders until it shifts into burnt sienna at midpoint. The hem is where the sun sets - a warm yellow that spreads upwards, as though the last light of day has been caught in the weave. When the wearer moves, the silk ripples like a dying horizon, leaving the impression of dusk following in their wake.

4. Design Commodities

Now we need to verify how many commodities we need for this pattern, decide what they should be, and add them to the design. It is recommended you read through HELP DESIGN COMMODITIES first for a quick overview. All designs consists of basic commodities first and foremost. If you wish to include special effect commodities see HELP SPECIAL COMMODITIES. 

For our cloak, we will go simple:

DESIGN 38740                 - your design will list an example of commodities
DESIGN COMMODITIES TAILORING - verify the suggested amount is correct, check for design Type
DESIGN LISTCOMMS             - to list all available commodities 

The minimum amount of commodities for a cloak is 22 (Coat Type). The cloak pattern used cloth but our cloak is silk in sunset colours. One tint of each relevant colour will suffice, so you would enter it as follows:
 
DESIGN 38740 COMMODITIES silk 19 redtint 1 orangetint 1 yellowtint 1

5. Submitting

If you are the Trademaster of the cartel the design is for, you can submit the design for review yourself. In nation-affiliated cartels, all members can work on designs but you still need the Trademaster to submit the design. Before you contact them review the following:

- Are all the fields shown on the design filled out?
- Are there any warnings at the bottom of the design?
- Are commodities filled out in the correct format?
- Are you marked as the designer at the top?
- Is the design meant to be public or cartel-specific?

If all is good, look up who the Trademaster for the cartel is (CARTEL <name>) and contact them by letter or message about the design you wish to submit. Once submitted, the design will go through the review process and return as either approved or rejected. If approved, you will be able to craft it! If rejected, changes will need to be made. 

If you are set as the designer of the design, you will be informed of approval or rejection. In nation-affiliated cartels you will be able to fix issues on rejected designs yourself and resubmit them with DESIGN 38740 SUBMIT.