Design Help!

[Mermaid Thea]

I'm in the process of ordering my first silicone tail, but obviously I need to figure out a design first. But there are two issues I'm running into:

1. I don't necessarily know what I want. I know what I like and what I don't, but I don't have a specific design in mind.

2. I also have no artistic ability. Even my stick figures suck.

Any mers willing to help a newbie out?

[Merman Storm]

Can you describe what you like and what you don't? Maybe references to pictures would help? Ultimately, you would take those descriptions to the tail maker, and see what sort of sketches they come up with.

[dorothywonderland]

Uhh Idk if it would help you much, but here is a few things that I do when I'm creating my fashion collections for college(and that's also what I'm doing this semester for the designs of my mermaid collection):

1. Get as much as pictures as you can, about things you like and/or find pretty, that you can use as inspiration (doesn't need to be directed only to mermaids, go crazy. The best ideas come from the weirdest inspirations.) You can get pictures of animals, gems, clothes, weird patterns, architecture, anything that grabs your attention can help.

2. Now get all those pictures together using photoshop or any other program (you can also print the pictures and glue them together in a bigger paper) to create your mood board (if you don't have any program to edit, you can also use this site: http://www.gomoodboard.com/boards/xbbY0iTK/edit )
Tip: It's also good to make more than one mood board for different themes (ex: one only for pattern ideas, the other one only with fishs, the other one only about shapes that you think you could use as ideas for your fluke, other with lots of colours, etc. etc. etc. etc.)

3. Having your mood board defined you can now get a more idea of what you want for your designs. Now, even tho you say you have no artistic ability, you need to start doodling. See what are the things that you like the most from each picture and go crazy. Doodle a lot, even if you don't like what you did or don't want to use the idea in the end, don't thrown anything away. Keep everything because this is your brainstorm and later can also give new ideas. ]

4. Still on the brainstorm phase: another thing that sometimes I like to do on the computer to give me ideas is get a base of a body (in your case get a picture of a mermaid, even if the tail is very simple) then delete only the tail of the picture and mantain all the rest. Under the layer with the mermaid (with the transparent tail) paste different images that were on your mood board. this can give you new ideas.
uhhhh.... I really don't know if I explained it correctly, maybe it's a bit confusing because of my language barrier. I'm really sorry, it's hard to explain this one... But I can show some pictures of how I've done it, maybe you would understand better

5. Choose a color palette (sometimes is better to make it before you start drawing, but I like to do it later. it is different for everybody) see what are the colors that you like more and want on your tail. They can be related to your mood board or be just a random choise of colors you like, it doesn't matter that much I guess

6. If I'm not wrong there's a few sites that provide free tail bases that you can print and paint/draw on them to create your designs, for your final ideas it would be good if you print some of those (if you really think your art sucks, that way you already have a base and only need to actually draw the pattern and the flukes/fins if you decide to change them)

There's also another process that I like to do to get to my designs, but I really really reeeally don't know how to explain this one without pictures or video(again because of the language barrier :( )

tbh, I'm also a newbie when it comes to mermaiding. But I hope those ideas can help you get inspiration for your designs

[The Water Phoenix]

Try look at pictures of fish you like or get a template from the tailmaker you want. I know that merbella, finfolk, mertailor and mernation all have design templates :) Whatever you come up with, I can draw for you :)

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Cut out pictures and make a collage.

[Mermaid Alea]

I second the mood board. I was having trouble thinking up a dream tail design, and I narrowed down what I like by making a mood board. Also, I also agree with doodling a lot. I drew at least 20 different tail designs and some I kinda liked but I wasn't getting one I was in love with. I kept looking at my designs and taking inspiration from what I did like and eventually I got a design that I love. If you still love your design after a few days or more then it is probably a keeper.

I don't think you should worry too much about not having a design planned because part of the tailmaking process is that the tailmakers will draw up a design for you and will work on coming up with a design for you if you don't have a set design in mind.

[PearlieMae]

Make a Pinterest board with images you like. Start with mermaid in the search. Then add sea life...Then your favorite color, and style (like art nouveau our something). Once you get a lot of pins saved, you'll start to see a theme emerge. You can start with my Oceana board if you like...it's in my signature!

[UtahMermaidPearl]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160417/0dfa7c9e78e1b0eaa2ca9248f3431127.jpg http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160417/7fbb0d3b7651b6437046d30a1622235d.jpg

[UtahMermaidPearl]

Here's my Pinterest board of tails https://www.pinterest.com/thevalentineinc/tails/

[Mermaid Thea]

Thank you so much for your replies everyone! I put together a board on Pinterest, and it has helped a lot.

[Merfin_Aurora_Oceania]

Check out Moo Prosthetics aka Thai Merman, he also has some really colourful and wonderful designs which may also give you some ideas, he can be found on youtube and facebook :)

There is also a recommendation on this forum as to which mermaker you can choose from by reviews from other mers on this forum who received their tails from their chosen mermakers :)

All the best Thea.


Thank you so much for your replies everyone! I put together a board on Pinterest, and it has helped a lot.

[The Water Phoenix]

Here are my designs that I sketched for you! They are not the best but I hope they can give you a basic view on what colours you want your tail to be! :) The first one! 36508

The second one! 36509

[Sapphire Mermaid]

Pinterest is definitely helpful with this! I had similar issues when I was trying to decide what I wanted to make. I finally settled after about a week of solid pinning of tails I liked and noticed a trend and finally settled on a design I liked. I drew up about 20 tails before I was happy. And now I am going to start making it this weekend and I am terrified haha
Even if they are basic drawings and colour spots, it all helps. the other way I thought of was perhaps get a basic outline of a tail that is the shape you want and go from there. Print out a bunch of them and mess around with colours and ideas. The link below has an outline on it. Really basic, but pretty helpful to get a general idea going!

http://www.datemplate.com/post_mermaid-outline-template_157099/