What Makes a Good vs a Bad Tartan Design?

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We HATE the US Bicentennial Tartan?!? No, not really. But when asked why we have a strong opinion about it, we got to thinking about what makes any given tartan look beautiful or look ugly.
Various estimates put the total number of tartans in the world at anywhere between 3,500 to 7,000. Something like 150 new designs appear every year, though only a tiny percentage of these ever get woven into cloth.
Rocky Roeger, owner of USA Kilts, Inc. has personally designed over 100 new custom tartans. The kilt makers at USA Kilts work with both traditional and new tartans every day as they craft custom kilts for our clientele across the USA. So.....YES we have some opinions on what makes a good or a bad tartan design!
The nutshell answer is that a tartan design will become ugly when the creator either tries too hard, or doesn't try hard enough. A simple design with no variety of line thickness (thread counts) and only a few colors may turn out "blah". The Rob Roy tartan - the "lumberjack plaid" is the classic example.
Conversely, a tartan design that has too many lines or too many colors, or colors that clash, will turn out garish and irritating to look at. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so a tartan you hate may be one someone else loves. However, we feel a well-designed tartan is one that achieves balance -- with areas on interest and color intensity combined with "empty" portions that allow the eye to rest. This contrast, along with pleasing color combinations, is what makes a good tartan "pop".
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WE HAVE A PASSION FOR HERITAGE
Located in Spring City PA, USA Kilts is a team of American kilt makers who have been making men’s kilts in authentic clan tartans since 2003.
We craft a full range of kilts right in our shop, from our budget casual kilt to our traditional machine sewn, hand-finished 8-Yard kilt. We specialize in all aspects of highland wear and Celtic clothing including Scottish, Irish and Welsh kilts and accessories.
If you want your kilt made by an experienced American Kilt Maker, you’ve come to the right place!
Subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one!
Visit our website at:
www.USAKilts.com
Find Your Tartan/Clan: www.usakilts.com/galleries
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Опубликовано:

27 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 76

@dann.6381 3 года назад

The American Heritage tartan makes me happy!

@alexroy2738 2 года назад

From a Canadian stand point, 2 very good examples of 2 beautiful tartans, that are very different ends of the spectrum are : the royal maple leaf, and the Royal Canadian Air force tartan.

@pipsheppard6747 3 года назад

My American Heritage kilt (Rocky-designed) is one of my wife's favorites. I appreciate that it's pleated to the stripe. Really a magnificent tartan and kilt. I wear it frequently (and it's a good selling point for me to tell folks about USA Kilts). Excellent video, gentlemen! A great lesson on tartan design in general.

@johnorr8094 3 года назад

The 2014 Commonwealth Games color pallet are too far apart. It's amazing that the artist wasn't sacked.

@tidypog3272 3 года назад

Yeah

@jdvdrnld 3 года назад

I agree!

@ericemmons3040 2 года назад

Yeah, it seems to me that butterscotch, coral, and aqua, or whatever those colors are called, don't go well together at all. I really think that butterscotch shouldn't be used as the main background color for a tartan, ever. Blue, green, red, maybe even purple or grey; but butterscotch? Please. . .

@RyanLoken 3 года назад

Thoughtful critique, thanks!

@junttivision7743 3 года назад

Thanks for the great videos. I really like to play with your tartan designer that is in your online homepage. Lots of fun (sometimes frustrating🤣) and gives more depth and understanding to what a tartan really is.

@carlbrown5150 Год назад

I take pride in the red, white and blue.!!🥰

@nq6417 3 года назад

Enjoyed this discussion.

@rscottrogers 3 года назад

Timely! I just pulled the trigger on an American Bicentennial ex-hire, and wore it for the first time Tuesday. The weave of the cloth in mine doesn't do the purple thing; the red is stronger than the blue. It's a bit loud, but then again one doesn't wear a kilt for subtlety. And the pleating is kind of almost-to-the-sett, in that it sequences through white stripes off the edge of the pleats rather than strictly pleating to the sett, which evens out a bit between the red and blue sections. It's definitely gonna be more of a special-event kilt for me for holidays and Team USA watching, but I'm actually quite pleased with it for what it is. And now back to rotating County Roscommon, Isle of Skye, and Pride of Scotland for daily kilting!

@chap0120 3 года назад

It hit me when you said it was designed in the '70s: It looks like an old plaid couch. Those white stripes just date it somehow. Also it turned red, white, and blue into blue and purple which---no.

@ericemmons3040 2 года назад

I don't know if I really mind the pattern, but there are too many white stripes converging on each other. If there were maybe four and four, or two and two, as in the other direction, instead of six and six, then the pattern might not assault my eyes so much. . .

@GunpointSyndicate 3 года назад

Please, please, please do a new tartan for the 250th anniversary. I LOVE my American Heritage kilt but you have to do something special to commemorate our 250th anniversary.

@quinntheeskimooutdoors6234 9 дней назад

Thanks for sharing 😊

@missymagerkorth2606 Год назад

The American Heritage plaid is a gorgeous piece of fabric, really lovely!

@cd21234 3 года назад

Your tartan designer page is very entertaining. I've tried to make a horrible design, but I like them all.

@cd21234 3 года назад

Oh, lets have a horrible tartan design contest.

@jonlilley2832 Год назад

My personal rules for designing tartans is the K.I.S.S. method so I don't end up with something that looks like street pizza or a modern work of art. I use 2 of nearly the same color, but different values, a single contrasting color for interest, and a little black (or very dark color), and white (or a very light color) for interest. Then, I have at it. If I were weaving this tartan, I'd want to keep the color changes way down, but the older looms can handle 4, 5, or 6, colors easily. If you go up from there, you end up on a rapier loom and have to deal with questionable selvedges. I keep my sett size between 6" & 8" and I try to keep my elements as simple as possible. If the element/stripe series doesn't fit in an inch, I redesign. I also tend to stay away from modern colors, because they don't tend to work very well with each other - the American Bicentennial tartan is a prime example. I'd love to redesign that one personally. Haste makes waste for sure ! ! !

@TheKiltedAdventurer 3 года назад

Another very informative video. I really like the Isle of Skye tartan.

@CaomhanOMurchadha 3 года назад

Isle of Skye designer probably got the color scheme from Golden Girls.

@TheKiltedAdventurer 3 года назад

@@CaomhanOMurchadha 🤣

@CaomhanOMurchadha 3 года назад

@@TheKiltedAdventurer it is. Look up Golden Girls Jerry Orbach. I didn't know what the hell my wife was watching and said oh wow Isle of Skye and immediately realized this was probably the 80s. It is basically missing one color. Nice shirt none the less.

@TheKiltedAdventurer 3 года назад

@@CaomhanOMurchadha It is very similar. Does his have green in it?

@normalplayer7377 Год назад

It's great, just beautiful. 'American Heritage' is a worthy name.

@onemercilessming1342 2 года назад

Kilt-wearing in the USA has only recently gained momentum. Back in 1976, thode of us who were adults at the time knew that people who were interested in wearing kilt plaids and regalia would have been far more interested in their Celtic heritage than wearing an American version. IMHO

@onemercilessming1342 2 года назад

*those

@correctpolitically4784 2 года назад

You guys are going to make every combination possible until there is nothing left to do.

@ericemmons3040 2 года назад

I wear a Robertson tartan, and I like the colors in it. I also like the Macbeth tartan; though it has lots of colors running into each other, they seem to do so in a tasteful way. I also like the MacLeod of Lewis tartan, with its yellow background; very few tartans have yellow as the main color, and that's probably a good thing, but the MacLeod of Lewis pulls it off well, I think. . .

@the-kilted-trucker59 3 года назад

Thank guys, seems each of your posts I learn more about one of my heretical country's. ( as I say I'm American, so I'm a mutt.) Would like to hear from u on the MUIRHEAD TARTAN SOME TIME, and if you carry it.

@user-ey4rc5tu4t 2 года назад

I love the purple, the blend is the only thing that made the red white and blue theme bearable. But, I can imagine that pleating it is a nightmare.

@nicholashayworth9198 2 года назад

I know the Bi Centennial Tartan as the USA Saint Andrews Tartan from SportKilt. It’s the predominant Tartan I wear. I get compliments on it all the time.

@hixwithanx 3 года назад

I loved the Earthrise tartan at first sight, right after it was registered. I don't suppose anyone stocks it?

@deborahjohnson6533 3 года назад

I agree with you in regards to the bicentennial tartan sort of dated and boring looking

@ryuukake 3 года назад

If someone wanted to get a custom batch of tartan for say a fandom designed woven and made into a kilt or five would you help consult on the design?

@robertlynn7332 3 года назад

My dad had a Bicentennial tartan kilt (purchased in 1975 or 6), pleated to the set. It didn't quite fit me and I honestly didn't like it that much, so when he died I donated it to the Centennial pipe band in Utah who still use that tartan, although they pleat to the stripe.

@damonturnbull5903 3 года назад

Question: What do you think of the Turnbull Dress Tartan? For me, it's off! I like Turnbull Hunting. I think it blends better. I would be interested in your thoughts, please.

@deborahjohnson6533 3 года назад

What is your least favorite and your favorite

@Lochlann13 Год назад

Generally speaking, I've found that most tartans using two primary colors are too garish for me. Complementary colors are much more pleasing to the eye.

@straycat1674 2 года назад

I think all too often when you just get these small clips of a plaid design they can be perceived as being better looking or more attractive than what they really are. But when you see it on a larger scale, when you see it on actual fabric or in a photo realistic view you get a better idea of how atrocious or busy or ugly it can actually be. This is one of the reasons why when I design Tartans I usually start off with the USA kilts tart designer as it is the most user-friendly one I found. But if I want a photo realistic view I go to another tartan designer that will actually give you the option of a photo realistic view. And then there’s a third one I go to that will give you a view of it if it were about 400 or so centimeters long. It gives you a good overall view of what the design will look like on a larger piece of fabric. But unfortunately this particular Tarte designer you cannot customize colors you have to use what’s a given. So sometimes you just have to pick which closest color wise.

@60sspider-man29 2 года назад

I'm still wondering how I'd design a Barry clan tartan...because the main colors on the crest are white and red and the secondary color is darm green so...how could I put those together on a tartan in an appealing way?

@RaithValek 2 года назад

I'm just learning of my Scottish blood which is Clan MacNaughton. Curious to know what your views are on MacNaughton tartans?! There's a few.

@timkirkpatrick9155 Год назад

what makes you think the purple perceptual confluence was not intentional? Is it royal purple? For the 250th, perhaps include elements from all the cultures that plaid! Yes, a pun.

@janetsears6673 2 года назад

A suggestion for the 2026 tartan would be to pull the "colors" out of America the Beautiful. Then try the Fair Isle method of color combining of light to dark on the back ground and dark to light for the motifs/foreground.

@deborahjohnson6533 3 года назад

Do they have a tartan for Simpson?

@majmarkbrown7816 3 года назад

What are the framed certificates with tartan swatch on the walls behind you guys?

@USAKiltsOfficial 3 года назад

Those are some of the tartans we've designed and registered.

@straycat1674 3 года назад

I have to agree with this tartan, not being very attractive. I think obviously it boils down to taste ultimately. But like when I create a tartan I will sit there and look at it and play with it. If something just feels off doesn’t look right, then I’m not gonna be done. You know when it’s right, you know when it’s perfect. And sometimes, just sometimes you have to scrap everything because nothing seems to be working.

@akioutsunomiya4343 3 года назад

this is fine and not as bad as Maclean dress kilt. the dress

@Stephen-eire 11 месяцев назад

help with Irish county tartans.☘☘☘ Can anyone provide information about the designers of the Irish county tartans and their purpose in representing the unique identity and heritage of specific Irish counties? The design elements, including color choices, patterns, and symbolism, may vary depending on each tartan and its historical or cultural significance.

@jdvdrnld 3 года назад

Much of it is the intensity of hue, the contrast of the white, and the amount of the white. I do remember the 1976 colors and It fits right in but is so much it doesn’t last for the ages it’s too dated. Muted intensity would be better. How many whit stripes are there if it is like 13 as the flag, It is symbolic. Maybe the size width is to much. Finer lines could make the difference. Face it muted, darker, or blended colors are best in the long run

@LauraMonteros Год назад

I like the California State tartan--Meadow green and Pacific blue with narrow stripes of redwood, gold, and sky blue. It's based on the Muir tartan. Symbolism: "The tartan's blue reflects the sky, the ocean, and the state' s rivers and lakes, while the green stands for the state's mountains, fields, and parks. The red, gold, and blue seams signify the arts, sciences, agriculture, and industry of California." No bias from this native California, of course!

@dillonfelts4020 3 года назад

I will say, UT Kilts' American Legacy tartan looks fairly nice. It's not as dark as USA Kilts America tartan, but nowhere near as gaudy as the other two.

@AtarahDerek Год назад

What advice would you have for someone trying to design an asymmetrical tartan?

@michaeldukes4108 Год назад

Don’t.

@AtarahDerek Год назад

@@michaeldukes4108 But I want a tartan that represents my state, and my state is asymmetrical.

@w.reidripley1968 11 месяцев назад

@@AtarahDerekSo I guess that rules Colorado, Wyoming, and both Dakotas out -- and Florida or Maryland in...? How this works out would be interesting.

@AtarahDerek 11 месяцев назад

@@w.reidripley1968 Florida is uniformly flat. Their tartan would be symmetrical. Wyoming could go either way with theirs.

@gilbertfergusson844 Год назад

Do you like the FERGUSSON tartan|

@elizabethmcglothlin5406 Год назад

Is the Bicentennial the one I've heard called the 'We The McPeople'?

@LEECE 3 года назад

Whats the tartan called hes wearing on the left?

@USAKiltsOfficial 3 года назад

Stewart OLD Wilsons of Bannockburn colors: www.usakilts.com/gallery/13-16-oz-wool/stewart-old-muted-wob

@LEECE 3 года назад

@@USAKiltsOfficial thanks for the fast reply 👍

@MatthiasJRichter 3 года назад

Earthrise

@annes1539 3 года назад

The Bicentennial Tartan is too much like the private school uniform I had to wear for three years.

@pauldaly3797 3 года назад

American Heritage Marton Mills Jura

@Banginyermamsince93 2 года назад

Thomson tartan is the nicest 😉

@crosisofborg5524 2 года назад

I am confused, being new to this. If tartans represent family surnames or clans, then why do you design new tartans?

@nicholashayworth9198 2 года назад

Because not everyone belongs to a clan. By designing new UNIVERSAL tartans, anyone can wear them. Good question BTW.

@w.reidripley1968 11 месяцев назад

Nor are tartans as tightly tied to surnames as some think. I put this down to overapplication of heraldry, which is tighter that way. They'll tell you again and again that tartans are more geographical than familial -- most of the time. Only exception seems to be Balmoral, IMO. And the Royal Family can have that, no harm. The geographic thing is practicality: which dyestuffs are most available. Pre-1745, there is not much record of who wore exactly what -- only occasional hints, and mixed plaids were seen too. !! The tartans we know now... have a lot to do with the Sobiesky Stuart brothers, whose mountebankery can be forgiven for being good fabric designers (apart from the occasional miss). The twain marketed the heck out of the idea that this plaid went with this family... and everybody took it and ran. I've seen it asserted that Royal Stuart is tacitly really a universal tartan, done up especially for George IV's Royal visit, and that Walter Scott had quite a hand in creating it.

@relicpathfinder2800 3 года назад

👍

@donburns7348 3 года назад

Is the guy in the left frame ALWAYS dehydrated? Switching his cup between hands is distracting when he talks.

@PATRICKSMITH1 3 года назад

You guys design and register your own tartans. Have you ever considered running a promotional competition where amateur subscribers who may not have the capital to design and register their own tartan could submit their designs. The winner then has their tartan registered in their chosen name and marketed by yourselves?