Introduction

Hairdressing is design, whether you are cutting the hair, setting it, colouring it, or perming it. Hairdressers use their creative ability alongside their technical skill to offer a creative service to the client. Hairdressers may not be aware at the time of all the design decisions they are making. As with the artist at the canvas the decisions come intuitively, because they feel right, but before this stage can be achieved the hairdresser, like the artist, must be trained in the basic language of design. Only then can they draw upon this wealth of information and adapt it to an appropriate situation. The hairdresser should feel confident in being able to cope with whatever walks through the salon door (from my experience with only a few exceptions!), whether it is the older client who wants a tight perm or a set, or the younger client who wants the latest cut, colour or half-shaven head. This is why it is important that stylists have a good understanding of design so that they really know what they are doing and can project a real sense of confidence in their clients.

Hairdressing training is an important part of a stylist's career and is a formative part of professional development. This initial training should include a good basic design element and also provide lots of opportunity for the simultaneous development of creative ability and technical skill as well as offering every possible opportunity and encouragement to exhibit these combined skills.

In order to be adaptable, it is important that the hairdresser should be able to expand on technical skill to offer a complete service to the client and indeed work in tandem with the other fashion areas that are involved in creating the total image. This is the only way we will be able to gain full recognition and demonstrate that hairdressers are in fact creative designers. In order to compete in this ever-changing fashion world, hairdressers must, firstly, keep abreast of current fashion trends (whether they happen to like them or not) as hairdressing is a vital part of the fashion image. Secondly, hairdressers must be able not only to adapt to new ideag but also to be the innovators of new ideas and techniques themselves. It stands to reason that if they ignore the world around them then the world will undoubtedly ignore them too, and the possibilities of attracting new customers and expanding businesses will be minimal.

This section aims to identify and simplify the basic principles of design that are involved in hairdressing. It will assist hairdressers in identifying those principles, understanding them and indeed applying them to practical situations, in order to enhance the hairdressers' professional development and last but certainly not least their salon performance and credibility.